A Helping Angel
by Hunting Brothers
Summary: Hunter lost his world, more importantly his daughter. Overwatch were people he considered his friends, his family, but now they're just his enemies. Although, with the trouble he's caused them over the years, it's surprising he's gone this long without being captured, but they finally get to him and he's reunited with an old friend, if he can call her that anyway. (Slow burn)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys. My buddy kept bugging me about writing a story like this because I've told him about it and he thought it was a good idea. Now that I've finally gotten around to it I want you to know that this will be a long story and a slow burn. Not a one shot. Anyways, enjoy.**

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Chapter 1 Regretful Past

 _April 22nd 2077 1932 Hours_

 _FuckFuckFuckFuckFuckFuck._ Were the only words that could come to my mind as I ran through the alleyways, dodging bullets that seem to have skimmed my body. Cold air and rain pelted my face as I continued to run, desperately trying to find some kind of cover. My body was in pain, I was pushing it over it's limit, but I knew that if I stopped, I was a dead man. My legs throbbed with every step, my lungs burned with every breath. I took a sharp right, feeling a bullet dig into the back of my leg. I fell forwards, extending my arms to cushion my fall. I rolled and saw that my rifle had been knocked away from me. I decided to go without it, quickly getting up and limping as fast as I could. I heard the footsteps behind me. They sounded like a stampede. I took another right, only to see a solid brick wall. My heart sunk in disbelief. I pushed up against the wall, hoping it was some kind of door or something. It was just a wall, my heart ached. After all that running, all that fighting. I'm just gonna be captured by Overwatch like this. I turned around to face my captors. Squeezing my leg tightly to stop some of the bleeding. I let my back fall against the wall, looking up at my captors, their flashlights burning my pupils.

"Hands up fucker." One of them demanded.

I did as I was told, slowly raising my hands above my head and surrendered to them. I was angry, both with myself and with these Overwatch scum bags. I glared at all of them, gritting my teeth in fury.

A soldier raised his hand to his earpiece. "We've got him sir. Orders?" He said coldly. "Understood." He continued as he approached me with a evil smirk. "Nighty Night Fucker." He mocked as he smacked me with the butt of his gun, knocking me out cold.

 _December 13th 2065_ _0934 Hours_

I sat in the waiting room, looking at the walls I've seen many times before. Both for me and for her.

"When will we see Angela daddy?" Rose asked me with an innocent smile.

I looked at her and smiled back, "Soon honey, she's taking care of the other patients first." I ruffled up her hair a bit, getting a giggle from her as she pushed my hand away.

Dr. Angela Ziegler, codename: Mercy, is a great doctor, maybe one of the best there is. She's even patched me up after some of my missions. Hell I would've lost my arm if it wasn't for her. None the less, I've become good friends with her. Making small talk over the years. She a wiz with kids, my daughter loves her, sometimes I think more than me. Yeah, it isn't really safe to keep a kid around a military facility, but being one of the top agents has it's privileges. Besides, she has no where to go. This is the best place for her. _I need to retire soon, get a home. For her. She doesn't deserve to live here, she needs a normal li-_ I was knocked clean out of my thoughts by the door opening and Angela walking through it.

"My, My, is it already time for another check up Rose?" She put her hands to her hips and smiled gently at us both.

"Hi Angela!" Rose practically yelled before running over to her and hugged her tightly.

"It's good to see you again. You've gotten so much taller." Angela said with a chuckle as she knelt down to Rose's level.

"I'm 3'6 now." Rose proudly stated while puffing out her chest.

"I can see that, you're growing up so fast." Angela praised happily and stood back up. "Come on you two follow me." She continued as she guided us to her usual work space.

I followed Mercy, Rose grabbing my hand as we did. We all arrived at the check up room and I lifted Rose onto the table.

"This shouldn't take long as usual Hunter. Just a few minuets." She explained to me as she began to check Rose's breathing.

"That's a shame, kinda wanted to talk to you Doc." I flirted harmlessly. I've always liked Angela, she's a very attractive woman if you ask me.

I could see a bit of red on her face, "Uhh...tha-thank you Hunter..." She stuttered and continued to check Rose, who looked at us both confused.

I chuckled, and sat down in a chair. Waiting for her to finish.

"So...what'cha been up to doc?" I asked trying to make some kind of conversation.

"Eh, nothing really. What about you and Rose?" She asked in return.

"I've been on a few mission, nothing serious. Rose here has getting into some trouble though." I told her casually.

She gasped heavily and looked at Rose, "Roooooose, what have you been doing?" She asked with disapproval in her voice.

Rose just looked at the ground in embarrassment and said nothing.

"She been sneaking into the shooting range and trying to shoot the pistols. McCree's caught her twice." I explained to her while staring at Rose.

"Rose. That's really dangerous, you could hurt yourself really badly or you could hurt someone else. Would you want to hurt someone?" Angela asked her gently.

Rose continued to remain silent, but shook her head no.

"That's right, you don't. Make me a promise that you will never go to the shooting range without your papa." Angela told her.

Rose looked up at her slowly and with an embarrassed face, "I promise Angela." She said quietly.

"That's a good girl, and you seem totally fine." Angela finished and helped Rose off of the table.

I got up and walked over to Angela, tugging on her shirt. She looked at me and I quietly asked her, "Can I talk to you in private for a sec?"

"Of course, one moment." She told me before turning back to Rose. She took a lollipop from her lab coat and gave it to her, "For being such a good girl." She praised and pinched her cheek lightly.

I led her out of the room, crossed my arms and looked at her with sorrow.

"What's the matter Hunter?" She asked me with a concerned look and tone.

"I've got a mission coming up, big one. I may not be coming back from this. If I do, I'll more than likely be missing a limb." I told her in a serious tone.

"Don't say that. You'll come back just as always." She tried reassuring me

"That's not why I'm telling you this. Look, if I don't make it back, I have no one take care of Rose. So I'm asking you, If something happens to me where I don't make it back, please take care of her. You're the only person I trust to do so." I explained to her, hoping she would accept the favor I'm asking of her.

"This is a great responsibility. I'm honored you think so highly of me." She stopped and pondered her decision with her eyes widened. "Ja...Ja I promise I will take care of her for you." She assured me with a gleeful tone.

I hugged her tightly, not being able to think of any other way to thank her enough. "Thank you Angela. I can't thank you enough for this." I told her with both relief and happiness in my voice.

She hugged me back, "It's the least I can do for you Hunter." She gently told me.

"It's the least I can do." The words echoed through my mind as everything began fading away. Was it a dream? A vision? A memory? I didn't know. All i knew was that I was out cold, my body trying to withstand the blows it just took. Both from me, and from my enemies.

 _April 23rd 2077 ? Hours_

My eyes opened slowly, revealing a dimly lit room. I was seeming to be sitting in the middle of it, tied to a chair. The walls looked old fashioned and cold. My head was throbbing intensely, probably from that asshole hitting me with his gun. I could hear two muffled voices yelling at each other through the door, one sounded feminine, the other sounded low and raspy. _Kinda sounds like someone I know...but who, wait...No, no it can't be him. He's dead._ I thought to myself, trying to break the silence in my head. I began to tug at my restraints, trying to get some kind of freedom. Lucky for me, whoever tied them didn't tie them well. I wiggled out of the restraints and my hands were free. I wasn't looking to break out. They caught me, and I know this place like the back of my hand. The only I'll be getting out of here, is in a body bag.

I rubbed my wrists, trying to get all the blood pumping back into my hand. My wrists were red and sore, _How long was I out?_ I pondered to myself. I shrugged off my own question however and raised a hand up to my head. There was still blood flowing from my wound, so I couldn't have been out long. Funny, you would think they would patch up a prisoner before interrogating him. Once again, I heard the two voice screaming at each other. Louder and clearer this time. "You will not interrogate a wounded man! Let me patch him up first!" It sounded like the feminine voice said.

It was still difficult to make out, but the man's voice was a little too clear. "Fine! But, YOU'LL be the one interrogating him then Angela!" The mans voice yelled what seemed like right at me.

 _Angela? Angela Ziegler? So...She's still working for these fuckers...Pity._ I thought to myself with a smirk. I leaned back into the chair, and lowered my camouflage hats bill over my eyes. Waiting for someone to walk in.

As if on queue someone opened the door and walked in carefully. "Hello, My name is Angela Ziegler, and I will be your do-." She stopped at those words. I didn't look up, nor speak. I wanted to see her reaction. She chuckled halfheartedly, "Uh, excuse me for asking, but where did you get that hat?" Her question was more of a demand, there was a hint of anger in her voice.

I honestly didn't think she would recognize my hat, then again I wore it all the time. I laughed, "What's the matter doc? Don't recognize me?" I mocked a little as I looked up, "You always knew my daughter a little better than me." I finished with a evil grin.

She stood there, wide eyed, dumbfounded, and more then likely shocked beyond belief. Her clipboard slipped out of her hand and fell to the floor below. "Hu...Hunter?!" She asked faintly, seeing if I was the real deal.

"Long time no see eh Doc?" I asked in a aggressive tone, leaning forward and gritting my teeth.

"They...They said you wer-"

"Dead, Missing, A Traitor. Well, maybe only one of those things are correct. After what you all did to my Rose...I should kill you where you stand." I threatened while standing up and walking towards her menacingly. Well, more of limped. My leg wasn't exactly healed yet, or even patched up for that matter.

"Wha-What?! We did nothing to Rose! She's-"

"Up in heaven right now. Talon showed me pictures. Y'all used her as a hostage and shot her right in the back of her head. I'm no fool Angela. You should know this." I barked angrily as I continued towards her.

She immediately pulled her pistol out and aimed it at my forehead. "St-Stay back Hunter..I'm not afraid to shoot you." She threatened aimlessly. She was as scared as could be, her hands and arms were trembling.

I decided to mess with her, toy with my food, "Woah there Doc. From our little chats I remember you saying that you're against violence." I playfully put my hands above my head with a smirk.

"I may be against it b-but I'm not afraid to use it." She tried to threaten while shaking.

I laughed, "Alright Doc, alright." I turned back around, walked back to my chair, and took a seat. My arms still raised above my head.

She took a deep breath before lowering her pistol. "Please Hunter, if you don't mind, I would like to patch you up. You took a nasty blow to the head." She approached both slowly and cautiously, gently touching my wound.

I snarled, "Whatever." I replied coldly.

She walked out of the room and returned with a bag of more than likely medical supplies. I just angrily looked at the ground. I didn't want a member of Overwatch working on me, but I did need to get this wound patched up. At this point I didn't have a choice in the matter. She began to dab my wound with alcohol. I groaned slightly at the pain, squeezing my eyes tight and gritting my teeth.

"Rose is perfectly fi-"

"Save it. I'm not gonna believe a word of you Overwatch fucks." I shouted at her aggressively.

She sighed heavily out of her nose, and continued to work on my gash. Taking a needle out of her bag and stitching my wound up. I gritted my teeth harder and harder every time the needle pierced my skin. It felt like hell.

"What did they do to you Hunter?" She tried to mumble inaudibly.

"They opened my eyes Angela. Showed me that you people can't protect your own, or keep a promise." I raised my voice at her.

"If you won't listen to me then I will just have to show you proof." She shot back, getting annoyed with me.

"I don't know what kind of proof you could show me, but it won't be enough. And if you're done, then get the hell away from me." I demanded immediately.

"Fine, Hunter. I may be your Doctor, and hopefully still your friend, but I will show the light tomorrow." She firmly stated before gathering her things and walking out of the room.

"I'd like to see you try Doc." I angrily mumbled to myself before tipping my hat over my eyes and trying to fall asleep. "Wait..." I lifted my hat back up, "Damnit she forgot the leg!"

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 **Well guys, there you have it. Keep in mind that I'm still working on my other story, this is just me taking a little break. And getting my friend off my back XD, anyways, hope you enjoyed and I'll see you guys around.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys Chapter 2, didn't take that long to write because I already had my ideas in mind.**

 **psppwner300: Well Done. But, if I may ask, why does Mercy have a British-like accent? It doesn't sound like that in the game, at least to me anyways.**

 **I was going for a more German-like accent, but I tried. If you have any ideas to help me get a more German accent please let me know.**

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Chapter 2 An Old Friend

I sat in the chair, breathing heavily as my leg throbbed. "God Damnit!" I yelled to myself in rage. I used the rope they used to tie my hands together to cut off the blood circulation to my leg. Trying to stop it's bleeding. My leg felt like it was on fire, I was physically sweating from the heat radiating off it. I took off my hat and wiped my brow. _For the love of god someone just come in here and fucking check up on me. I feel like I'm gonna bleed out._ I angrily thought to myself. This was classic of Overwatch and it's staff. Not caring about anyone, sometimes not even their own. I began to groan loudly at the pain. It was too much to bare.

I heard a slam on my door, "Keep it down in there." Someone barked _._

"Get me the Doc! I'm fucking bleeding out in here!" I yelled in return.

All I heard was a group of laughter, "Nice try, I'm not an idiot. Go ahead and 'bleed out' for all I care." He told me before not saying another word.

 _These guys are serious. I'm literally going to be left in here to bleed to death._ I thought to myself in shock. I just leaned back in my chair, trying to make time go by faster so that Angela would come back and see my fucking leg. That's all I cared about at this point, getting myself patched up and holding out until Talon overthrows these scum bags. I did my best to reflect on old memories, the good ones. Like when Rose was still with me, her innocent smile lighting up my day. Then I remembered the promise. The promise that Angela made me the day I was captured by Talon. "I promise I will take care of her." Her words echoed in my mind. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. She broke the biggest promise of her life, once I'm patched up, I'm gonna kill her. She took my world away from me, now I'm gonna take hers.

I continued to groan and moan at the pain for what seemed like years. The only noise other than my own was the flickering light. It was nearly driving me crazy, all the silence, no one to talk to. Then again, when I felt lonely, I would just remember Rose, but only when I was strongest. The thought of her not being with me is too much to bare sometimes. I looked at the ground, feeling my anger being overcome by my sadness. I began to sob, letting out years of grief in that one moment. I pulled my hat over my face, feeling something within the fabric around the rim. "No fucking way." I found myself snapping out of my sadness and immediately grabbing the device. It was a small little communicator that I always kept on me in case I ever was captured. I put it in my ear and turned it on, I heard an old dark raspy voice of my old friend.

"What is it Sharpshot? Where the hell are you?" He growled, irritated.

"Reyes, thank the fucking lord, listen to me. Overwatch got to me, they finally caught me. I'm in their base, prisoner, but they didn't find my second comm link." I explained to him hastily.

There was no response, just a long eerie silence. "Have fun there you little shit." He mocked before laughing and turning off his communicator.

I sat there in the second biggest shock of my life, I dedicated TWELVE fucking years working for Talon, and I'm just thrown away like fucking TRASH. "You MotherFUCKER!" I yelled as I threw the small comm link at the ground. Surprisingly, it didn't break. I put my hands over my face, covering my shame. I sat there for I don't even know how long, not doing anything. Not even thinking. Then an idea struck, _If Talon just gonna stab me in the back like that, then two can play at that game._ I mischievously thought to myself. I knew some of Talon's big projects, their base locations, hell even the way they're gonna take down Overwatch.

 _Overwatch...,_ I thought to myself, _If Talon threw me away like I meant nothing, maybe they were lying to my about somethings too._ These thoughts filled my head. Making my reason overcome my personal vendetta. "Angela said that Rose was fine...but those pictures, it was her. Even if Talon were the ones that killed her, Angela still broke her promise." I mumbled to myself quietly as I hunched over and stared at the ground. "What if...what if that wasn't Rose...Maybe Angela did keep her promise..." I began coming to the realization that Talon may have been using me as a puppet all along, toying with my emotions and making me kill people I once called family.

I sat there for another couple hours, or at least it felt like it. Then Angela walked in, immediately seeing the condition I was in. She gasped, "Mein gott Hunter! What happened?!" She asked me loudly as she began to examine my leg.

"You, uhh, forgot to patch up my leg." I told her faintly as I continued to stare at the ground.

"Why didn't you just tell me?! I would've done it!" She yelled at me annoyed.

I didn't say anything, I was too deep within my own thoughts to even hear Angela. I was pondering whether to tell her what Talon just did, or just keep quiet and let her try to get the answers out of me.

"hunter...Hunter...HUNTER!" She yelled in my face, trying to get my attention.

"Oh...ya?" I asked, acknowledging her once again.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" She asked again, with more concern in her tone.

"Wasn't exactly happy now was I?" I asked back with a hint of sarcasm.

She slapped me right across the face, bringing me fully back to reality. "Don't play those kind of games vwith me Hunter! You are an injured man! You need to tell me when you are hurt so I can take care of you!" I could hear how hurt she was in her voice, she sounded like she was on the brink of crying. I just remained silent, not wanting to hurt her, but also not wanting to talk to her. She sniffled and wiped her eyes as she looked at my leg, "It is already infected. I'll be back with my things." She got up and quickly left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts once again.

 _Infected huh? Well, guess I won't be walking on it for awhile. Better get comfortable in this chair._ I thought to myself as I tried to take all weight off of it. It continued to throb, ache, and burn. I honestly didn't feel much of it, I was too deep within my own thoughts. For twelve years I thought that Overwatch betrayed me, I thought they were my new enemy, the true terrorists in this world. I've realized now that Talon, was my true enemy all along. They just manipulated me, made me think of my family like that, but it's too late for me, they'll never accept me back here. Maybe Angela would, but others wouldn't. I've killed and fought to get to where I am now, but I still have only one question that has come to my mind, _Was it all worth it? All this pain, this...hard ache. Rose may not even be dead and I've done all of this thinking she was._ _I nee-_ My thoughts were cut short by Angela walking back in, her medical bag in one hand and a chair in the other.

She began working on my leg, not saying a word to me. Hell she wouldn't even look up at me. I don't blame her, ever since I've been here, ever since she found out I was still alive, I've done nothing but treat her like garbage. All because of the lies Talon poured into my brain. She untied and took off the rope I used to cut off blood circulation to my leg, then she lifted up my pant leg. My leg was mostly purple, due to the lack of blood flowing to it. The bullet hole was covered in blood and puss. It looked disgusting, but I guarantee we've both seen worse. Her probably more than me. I couldn't help but gag at the sight, not because it looked disgusting, but because it was MY leg. Just that feeling of looking at your wound, it sends your stomach spinning. She wasn't even fazed at the sight, it was just like another day in the office for her.

She began to pour some alcohol into the wound, making me groan loudly and grab her arm. She stopped and looked at me, "Hunter, you need to let me work. Your leg won't get better with you stopping me." She gently told me before slowly grabbing my hand and moving it.

I looked at her with my teeth gritted, but let her move my arm. She began to pour the alcohol in again, it stung worse than anything I've felt in awhile. I hunched over and clenched my first, doing my best not to grab her in an effort to make her stop. I yelped a little, trying ever so hard not to scream or yell at the intense pain. "The bullet didn't go all the way through, I need to get the remnants out." She told me as she took out some extraction tools.

I looked at her, feeling defeated. I sighed heavily, "You're gonna dig through my wound aren't you Doc?" I faintly asked her, getting a slight nod in response. "You've done worse to me...go ahead." I felt useless, letting her do whatever she needed to do and having little to no say in the matter.

She nodded and began to dig the extraction tool in my leg and search for the bullet fragments. I yelled slightly and slammed my fist against the chair. This was not gonna be fun, but it needed to be done. Minutes went by, they felt like days. She continuously pulled out little metal fragments from my leg, searching through the mangled and infected muscle. My teeth were gritted as hard as I could, trying to distract my nerves. After what felt like an eternity of pain and hard ache, she seemed to have finished. She closed up my wound and wrapped a thick layer of gauze around my leg. I've got to admit, after she took her tools out, my leg felt a hell of a lot better.

"Thanks...but why?" I asked her as she curiously looked at me.

"Why what?" She asked me, tilting her head.

"Why did you help me? You could've just left me in here to rot, to suffer. Yet you helped me, after I treated you like garbage. After...after I betrayed all of you." My voice began trailing off, still not realizing why anyone would treat me with such kindness at this point. After all I've done to everyone, there are still some that are by my side.

"You didn't betray us on your own, Talon manipulated you into doing their will, filling your head with lies. They are the ones who did all this, not you." She explained to me with a gentle smile.

I shook my head slightly and looked at the ground, not wanting to be seen by anyone, or anything. I wanted to just turn invisible and crawl into some kind of hidey hole. She was right, 100% right, Talon used me, and I need to try and make up for what I've done.

"Angela..." I quietly whimpered as I took off my hat and pulled out the my backup comm link. "I...I called Talon...and they just threw me away like I was fucking garbage!" I screamed as I threw the communicator again, this time breaking it. "Twelve fucking years Angela! Twelve years they used me and made me do their fucking will!" I continued to yell because of my anger, although it seemed like it, I wasn't yelling at her, I was yelling at myself. Yelling at my own fucking stupidity. I covered my face, finally breaking, I began to sob uncontrollably, "I killed so many people Angela...So many enemies of Talon...Most of them were innocent...Most I considered friends." I barely slipped out through my tears.

"Hunter...I know you, you wouldn't have done it if you were in the right mind. Talon brainwashed you, they dug deep inside of you and found your one weakness, Rose. They used that against you and tricked you into thinking that we killed her, but they never thought that we would capture you alive, and now you know the truth." She gently put her hand on my shoulder, and looked up at me with a reassuring smile. "Someone would like to see you." She slowly turned to the door and said, "Come in, he's ready." She said loudly to whoever was on the other side of that door.

I looked up, wiping away some of my sorrows and contemplating who was through that door. The door slowly opened, revealing a young woman in an Overwatch soldier uniform. I couldn't see her face, the light from outside of the room was too bright. I squinted my eyes, trying to put a face on this woman. She slowly walked forward, her hands cupped in front of her face, almost like she was about to cry. The door slowly creaked closed behind her, the light in the room faded until it was to it's same dimly light bulb hanging from the ceiling. I could finally put a face on this person, and I couldn't believe my eyes.

She stood before me, covering her mouth, trying not to cry. I could see the tears building up in her eyes. "Daddy...It's me...It's Rose." She faintly said without managing to cry.

I sat there in shock, there was a voice telling me from the back of my mind that it wasn't her, that this is just some trick. I ignored it, it looked like her. It sounded like her, She even looked the right age. My whole body and mind was telling me to just hug her, grab her and never let her go, but that little voice was preventing me from doing anything other than just staring. Looking into my "resurrected" daughters eyes. For twelve years I thought she was dead, killed by Overwatch's hand. For twelve years I had a personal vendetta with any Overwatch agent I came across. And yet, here she is. Standing no more than three feet in front of me. Proudly wearing the Overwatch emblem. Angela did keep her promise, and to think I treated her like she betrayed me. The little voice in my head was fading away, I was coming ever so closer to wrapping my arms around my little girl.

"Dad?...Dad are you alright?" Rose asked, perhaps thinking that I didn't recognize her, or didn't believe that it was her.

Angela stood up and guided Rose away from me, "Rose...for the last twelve years, he's thought that you were dead. This is probably the biggest shock that he has ever experienced. Give him some time, he'll know it's you." She carefully explained to her, trying to make sense.

Rose carefully took a glance at me and back to Angela. She began to whisper something to her, something that I didn't bother trying to listen to. My mind had beaten the voice out of my head, I was fully convinced that this was my little girl, my daughter. I stood up, limping my way over to the two. Neither of them seem to notice me get up.

While the two were talking I grabbed Rose, and wrapped my arms around her. I never wanted to let go. My heart finally felt whole again, it seemed to have either stopped beating, or I just couldn't feel it anymore. I felt tears of joy come streaming down my face, "I thought I had lost you...I thought I lost my little girl." I whispered to her through the tears.

She hugged me back, crying into my shoulder. If she was saying something I couldn't hear it. I only cared about one thing right now, and that one thing was in my arms for the first time in twelve years.

I looked at Angela, who was smiling at the scene. I had to thank her for this somehow, she just gave me back the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I mouthed the words 'Thank you' without actually saying them to her. She just nodded in response, her smile not leaving her face.

This was only temporary, I knew this. In a few minutes she'll have to leave and I'll answer any question Overwatch throws at me. I may spend the rest of my life in an Overwatch cell, but at least I got to see my little girl, one more time.

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 **Another chapter down, this let a little load off of my back. Other than the mountains of school work that I've got... None the less, if you saw anything that didn't seem right, or thought that could've been done better, leave some constructive criticism. All I ask is that you don't be a total dick about it. If you've got an idea, share it. I may just use it. Hope y'all enjoyed the second chapter and I'll see you all in the next one.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Redemption

 _April 2? 2077 ? Hours_

I couldn't help but continue to shed tears, my little girl was once again in my arms. This is the happiest I've been in a long time. For the last twelve years my heart has been corrupted with hate and vengeance. It finally feels at peace. I could hear Rose crying into my shoulder. I kissed the side of her head. My little girl wasn't so little anymore. She was a beautiful young woman. I never wanted her to join Overwatch, but it's not my decision. She is old enough to make her own decisions. She continued to sob into my shoulder, holding me tightly.

"Shhhh...It's okay Rose...I'm back...I'm back.." I told her though the tears of my own.

"They-They al-all said that you were dead...I-I knew they were wr-wrong." She stuttered through her tears, still squeezing me tightly.

"I know honey...I know..." I gently said to her.

I could see Angela, she knew that sooner or later Rose would have to leave and she would have to ask me a whole lot of questions. The look on her face showed that she didn't want to, she didn't want to break this up. Although, she had a job she had to do. She walked up to Rose from behind and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to pull her off of me. "Rose...He needs to be questioned. You need to leave for now." She said to her quietly.

Rose just squeezed me tighter, "Please Ang, just a few more minutes." She mumbled into my shoulder, not even looking at Angela. Her sobs had ceased, but she didn't want to let go of me.

I didn't want to either, but this was something that Overwatch needed to hear. This was something I should've done a long time ago. "Rose, Honey." I lifted her head up so she would look at me. "I need to tell Overwatch what I know. Plus, as happy as I am to see you. I need to pay for my crimes. I've done terrible things in the time I've been gone, I need to set them right." I explained to her.

She didn't seem to like what I told her, but she obeyed. She let me go and walked towards the door. "Angela?" She asked as she looked towards her.

"Yes Rose?" Angela quietly responded.

"Please don't let them lock him up. I know he still has a good heart." She told Angela her request with a large amount of sadness in her voice.

Angela looked at me, staring for only a couple of seconds and looked back to Rose, "I will try." She told her plainly.

Rose cracked a small smile, and walked out of the room with her head down. I was honestly hard to watch, she wanted to be with me right now, but we all knew that I needed to tell Overwatch everything I know. I turned back and limped to my chair, slowly lowering myself into the seat. I looked at Angela who was walking to her own chair. "I'm sorry." I said firmly.

"Hmm?" She asked looking at me confused.

"I've treated you like dirt for the past day and a half. I owe you an apology Angela. You kept your promise, and raised my little girl into a beautiful young woman. I'm sorry for being an asshole to you. Actually a really big asshole to you." I apologized sincerely to her while I lowered my head in shame.

"It's totally fine Hunter. I know you wouldn't have done that if none of this ever happened." She smiled at me and showed me that it was truly fine.

"Well...if I heard correctly you're the one who's gonna be interrogating me right?" I asked while I slouched forward.

"Ja, that is correct." She took out a clipboard and a pen. "I'm trusting you to tell me the truth Hunter, if I get any lies I'll hand the 'interrogations' over to someone else." She told me with an eyebrow raised, if she didn't trust me a whole lot I didn't blame her. Hell I didn't trust her yesterday.

"Don't worry Doc," I paused and adjusted my hat, "I just want to make Talon pay." I told her coldly with my brow narrowed.

The 'interrogation' lasted a few hours. I gave Angela any information that I knew. Base locations, huge projects, P.O.W Outposts, anything that would harm Talon.

Her notes filled about three pages, both front and back. I gave her everything I possibly knew. Even my kill count, which wasn't all too important, it just made me feel even worse about my mistakes.

"This is all very helpful, Danke for being so cooperative Hunter." She thanked me while looking through all of the notes.

"Anything to get back at those pricks." I responded to her with an angered tone.

Out of the blue, the door swung open, and another face came back from the grave.

"Angela did you get anything out of this fucker?!" He barked angrily, staring me down.

"Ja Joshua, plenty. And his name his Hunter, you of all people should know that." She calmly replied, handing him the clipboard.

He swung his arm and swiped the clipboard out of her hand forcefully, "Hunter is dead to me. After what he did." He told her, beginning to look at the notes.

I could feel my eye beginning to burn from lack of blinking, but no matter how much I tried to blink, my body wouldn't let me. They just stared at my old friend. I finally let out a small chuckle, "Well I'll be damned, good to see you can take two slugs to the stomach buddy." I told him, the second the words left my mouth however, I realized how they sounded. In all honestly that was a sincere statement, during the fall of Overwatch, I was the one to pull the trigger, my gun aimed at him.

He just glared up at me from the clipboard with Angela's notes. "Watch your mouth asshole, and we're not 'buddies' anymore. Not after what you did." He snapped before looking back at the notes.

'Ouch.' I thought to myself. Do I blame him for being mad, not at all. If I was in his shoes I would be worse. I mean, look at what I've done already because of the lies Talon poured into my head. Was it gonna be easy to regain his trust? No, but one step at a time right? Maybe my information will be that first step.

"First couple bases labeled are the ones closest...I think at least." I told him, thinking about the bases myself.

"Oh that's great to know, I'll be sure to keep that in mind." He sarcastically said, ending with a scoff.

I could tell just by his uniform that he has moved up in ranks since I last saw him, he even acted like it. Hell, I remember when we both first joined...and what a stupid kid I was at that time. I remembered back when I was just a recruit here, flirting with every woman I saw that looked close to my age. Eventually my stupidity caught up to me, and Rose was born. Do I regret having her? No, I just feel like it shouldn't have been done in an active military base. Funny how her mom just 'disappeared' leaving me alone with Rose. Fucking bitch, serves her right, she doesn't get to see my little ray of sunshine grow up...and neither did I frankly.

Joshua looked over at Angela, a both confused and curious look on his face. "So how did you break him? I would honestly like to know what weakness he has." He asked her, looking at me evilly.

Angela didn't look at him, she was obviously disgusted by his hatred towards me, but she more than likely understood the reason. "I just asked him." She plainly answered.

His expression shot to disbelief, "You just asked him?" He asked her, more than likely thinking that she was lying.

"Ja, he's not a bad man Joshua. You're just letting your feelings cloud your mind. You knew him a lot better than I did, yet you can't tell when he is truly sorry about what he did. He knows that he is going to be locked up, perhaps for the rest of his life, but he got to see Rose one last time, and that was good enough for him." She calmly told him as she began to collect her things.

"I highly doubt you just asked him Angela, he's not the kind of person to break that easily." He sternly told her while scanning me over. If I were a guessing man, I would say that he saw my injuries and thought that Angela was the one to cause them, because he started laughing, hard. "Oh my god Angela! I never thought you had it in you! You actually hurt the fucker!" He yelled through his laughs at her.

Mercy just gave him the most confused look I have ever seen, "Wha...What? What do you mean I hurt him?" She asked him, trying to make sense of what was so funny about this.

Joshua was holding his belly, trying to calm down from his laughter, "Hi-his wounds." He managed to slip out before falling onto his side. To be honest I don't know what was so funny about the thought of Angela hurting me. Maybe it was he thought that I broke to a someone as compassionate as her. I honestly didn't care either, if he thinks I'd break that easy than fine, I gave them this info out of my own free will, not because I felt threatened to do so.

Mercy looked over at me, and saw the gauze wrapped around my head and leg, she immediately realized what he thought that she did, "Mein gott, I didn't do that Joshua! Your soldiers did when they captured him! They shot him in the leg vwhile he was running and gave him that gash when they knocked him unconscious! I am against violence!" She began to furiously scream at him, making him immediately stop laughing.

I honestly couldn't help but chuckle, just seeing him shut up like that when Angela yelled at him was too good. "And you thought that I'm that easy to break." I mocked him as I continued to chuckle.

Mercy shot me a look, not wanting me to add more fuel to the fire. I immediately shut up, not wanting to get yelled at as well.

Joshua let out a frustrated groan as he observed the notes one final time. "This is good...," He looked up towards me, "Alright jackass listen here, you're going to sit in a cell while we go and see if these coordinates are actually correct. If it turns out your lying, I'll be taking your interrogation over, and it will not be fun for you. But if it turns out you're telling the truth then maybe I'll consider not letting you sit in a jail cell for the rest of your worthless pathetic life." Joshua explained to me while getting into my face, literally inches away.

I just looked around, looked at Angela, and back at him. I shrugged, "Alright, none of it is lies. So I guess you'll consider not keeping me in a cell for my whole life, just maybe till I'm sixty." I joked with a shit eating grin.

He gritted his teeth at me and threw the clipboard to the ground before walking up to me quickly and grabbing me by the collar, "Listen here you treacherous piece of shit! You don't get to talk shit, make jokes, or even crack a smile while I'm in the room! You left everyone behind, and for what!? To help Talon, our enemy, the people you swore to protect the world from! No! You're just a fucking useless coward who chose the easy way out of torture and interrogations by helping them! You're worse than fucking Reyes!" He furiously yelled into my face, a fire lit in his eyes. He absolutely despised me and I knew it, but...I wasn't going to let this fucker talk shit to me like that without knowing the true reason I did what I did.

I grabbed his wrist and pulled it off of my collar before standing before him, he was always a little taller than me, but I didn't feel intimidated in the slightest. "Listen here Josh. I didn't choose the 'easy way out'. I chose the path that would lead to the fulfillment of my personal vendetta. You don't realize what Talon does to people in there you sick cocksucker. I WAS tortured, I WAS interrogated, and I still didn't break. Not until they showed me something that changed my life until today." I told him through my gritted teeth.

In an instant he swung his arm out of my grip and threw a punch right at my jaw, sending me flying to the ground. I could hear Angela gasp sharply, followed by some heels quickly approaching me. I lifted my head up slightly and wiped my lip. There was already a decent amount of blood covering my index and middle finger. 'Damn he hits hard. Just like old times.' I thought to myself. I felt a hand gently touch my shoulder while the other was under my chest trying to help me to stand up.

It was no doubt Angela helping me, but before I even got to my feet, the door swung open and I heard Josh order, "Take this fucker to where he'll never see the sun again, and DON'T be gentle."

"Yes sir!" The two guard responded already approaching me quickly. They ripped me out of Angela's gentle grasp and threw me out of the cell. I tumbled forward and slammed my head against the wall, pain immediately shot through the rest of my body. I laid on the ground, groaning at the immense pain. I tried to at least begin to get up, knowing that they would beat me even more if I didn't get up and walk to where the wanted me to go. "Stand up." One soldier ordered sharply. I did my best to oblige, but every time I got close to sitting up, my body would give out and I'd fall back down to the ground. "I said, Stand Up." The soldier ordered more aggressively. I once again tried to get up, but the pain was too great. My body couldn't take it. He kicked me in the gut, making me roll over and clench my stomach with a groan.

Suddenly, I heard Angela's voice, "Joshua! Order your men to stop! He is still injured!" She screamed at him furiously.

"Not gonna happen Angela, he's a traitor and must be treated like one." Joshua responded sternly, blocking her from approaching me.

I continued to try and get up, finally succeeding, well...barely, I had to use the wall to push myself upward. I continued to clench my stomach as I was shoved in the back, hard. "Move along." The soldier barked while pushing me forward with his rifle.

I did as I was told, hearing both Angela and Joshua arguing in back of me. The further I walked, the more there voices faded. I had to chuckle, just the thought of Angela tearing him a new one was too funny. Bad decision, my chuckle resulted in another smack in the jaw, but this time from the butt of a rifle. I stumbled into the wall and caught myself, quickly putting my hand to my jaw, it was out of place. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt, but when I grabbed it firmly and put it back into place, that's when the pain shot through my body like when you turn on a switch, it was immediate. My breathing sped up as I tried not to collapse once again from all the pain my body was in.

"Not so funny now is it?" The soldier sarcastically asked as we all continued walking.

I just turned around and looked at him while I walked, but the other soldier hit my shoulder yelling, "Eyes forward!"

I just shook my head, I deserved everything I was getting. I can't be mad at anyone for what they're doing to me. Still, I can't help but wonder why Angela wasn't angry with me. After everything I've done, she's still treating me with the same kindness she had when I used to serve in Overwatch with her. This question raced through my mind and kept repeating itself as we made our way to the detention center.

As we continued to walk, or limp for me, into the detention center, my leg began to burn, just like it did before Angela cleaned out the wound. I slightly leaned over, hoping that the guards would just think that I'm limping that way, and rubbed around the wound as we continued through the detention center. The burning intensified, causing me to squint my eyes and groan quietly at the pain.

One of the soldiers seemed to have noticed that something was wrong with me, cause instead of trying to help me to my cell, he kicked the back of my calf and said, "Keep moving." I didn't dare to look back at him this time, I just did as I was told and kept going. Suddenly, I was grabbed by the shoulder and pulled to the left, nearly thrown into a solitary confinement cell. I looked back at the two soldiers that 'escorted' me to this cell, one was pushing a button on a panel to the right of the cell. A Plexiglas door slid closed and locked, the entire wall was made of Plexiglas, but the only thing I saw out of it, was other prisoners who have done something not even close, to what I have done.

"Hope you rot." One soldier said through the little intercom before the two walked away.

I didn't care about the unfair treatment, the cruel punishment...I deserved everything...the only thing I've done in the past twelve years was tear families apart, ruin friendships, and kill the ones I once called...friends. I hobbled over to my little bed and laid down, I wasn't tired, but this leg is never gonna help properly if I keep standing on it.

I just stared at the light of my cell, watching the light bulb slightly flicker, and flash. I could hear the screams of guilt and regret echoing within my skull. The more I contemplated the choices I've made, the eviller and more idiotic I felt. I am a monster, a monster that doesn't deserve anything good, whether it be freedom or Rose. Now that I think about it, I'm glad Angela raised her. The woman that became a doctor at the age of fifteen, the woman that has made technology that can bring the god damn dead back from the god damn grave. And what have I done? Got tangled up with a woman that dumped our kid on me, and spent twelve years away from her, killing people she considered family. I was already fucking the assignment god had given me, even if I wasn't working with Talon, even if I never left, I still probably would have screwed up one way or another. Angela raised her into a beautiful, intellectual, strong young woman. And I'll never be more proud of her than I already am. As much as I wish she didn't follow my footsteps in joining Overwatch, she can make her own decisions, and she seems to be doing fine here. Good family, kind people, well to her at least, and people that care about her deeply.

I slightly smiled, just thinking about my little girl set my mind at peace...kinda. I could feel a wave of tiredness rush over me, my eyes were already beginning to get heavy. Been over 24 hours since I last slept, with all the pain and the 'interrogation'. My body and mind were exhausted, they needed to rest. But my guilt wouldn't let them. It wanted to truly reflect on the fucking decisions I've made, and how they have affected the ones here. How I've torn families apart, how I've killed friends, and most importantly, how I betrayed every single person here, including Rose.

My eyes were finally able to close, but my mind was still wide awake. Occasionally forcing my eyes open for a quick second, keeping me awake. I tossed and turned on this rock of a mattress, trying to get into a comfortable position to finally fall asleep. I laid on my side, facing the wall. I was finally able to get comfortable with this damn leg, god it hurts like hell. My eyes finally felt like I wasn't forcing them closed, my mind was finally beginning to rest. There was only one noise in the room that wasn't my thoughts, it was the buzzing of the light in my cell. Soon though, that began to slowly fade away, signalling that I was finally falling asleep. Everything got darker and quieter, everything faded more and more towards darkness and silence. The buzzing of the light faded, along with any light. I was laying in total darkness.

 _May 23rd 2066 1457 Hours Swiss Overwatch Base_

"Sharpshot are you in position?" Reyes asked me through my comm link.

"Affirmative, got a niiiice view from up here. Should be able to pick of the stragglers." I replied, scoping out the main courtyard and seeing how many Overwatch bastards there were.

"Alright, remember, don't take any shots until the signal is given. We don't want them to be suspicious." Reyes told me in an aggressive tone.

"Yeah Yeah, whatever you say 'boss'" I sarcastically replied, rolling my eyes and shacking my head slightly.

"Just do as you're told you ungrateful shit." Reyes insulted angrily.

I just rolled my eyes a second time, he was always a pain in the ass to work with. But no one else wants to take out Overwatch more than him. Besides, the only reason I'm here is because Angela is here. I promised to myself and Rose that I would make her pay. She broke her promise, now it's time to keep mine.

Minutes passed, felt like an eternity. I set down my rifle and scanned the area with binoculars. "Be a hell of a lot easier if I had a spotter...fucking Reyes." I mumbled to myself while scanning.

It was just the usual, workers and grunts walking around the courtyard. I was never stationed here, I was always stationed at Gibraltar. Never anywhere else, kinda weird if you think about it. One of Overwatch's finest snipers, only stationed at one Watchpoint. I've got to admit, I was always a good shot, but I would be nowhere near as good as I am right now if I never met Ana Amari. Overwatch's, if the not the world's, best sniper. That woman took me under her wing and taught me nearly everything I know. May she rest in peace.

There was nearly nothing of interest, nothing to keep my eyes on. It was just grunts, no important members, no top agents. "Where the fuck is the med bay?...Oh right there...god I'm blind." I scolded myself, finally setting eyes on the med bay, hoping to god that Angela was in there. Hoping that she was in view. Just seeing the med bay ignited a flame of hatred in my heart. I couldn't take my eyes of it no matter how hard I tried. Every fiber of my being wanted to make Angela pay for breaking her promise, for allowing them to kill my Rose.

I chuckled evilly under my breath, "Oh doc, you better hope I don't see you in there." I smirked as I scanned each and every window, trying to find her. I scanned and scanned, perhaps for hours, or that's how it felt. Nothing, fucking nothing. Just doctors and fucking wounded. The the golden haired blonde I knew well. I grinded my teeth in frustration, "Where the fuck are you?!" I yelled in my mind, doing my absolute best to hold my tongue and not give away my position. I looked through any window, any door that opened before it closed, any view I could possibly have. I wasn't even looking at the courtyard, or even remotely listening to my comm link. If anything came through, any orders, any status updates, I didn't care to hear it. I had one mission and one mission only, kill Angela Ziegler.

My wristband began to vibrate roughly ad chirp loudly. Being totally honest, it made me jump pretty hard. I scrambled to catch my binoculars so they would just fall all the way down the cliff side. I knew what the signal meant, I didn't even have to look at it.

I set down my binoculars and grabbed my rifle. Pulling my eyes away from the med bay and towards the courtyard once again. But, something caught my attention. The entrance to the med bay opened. Just take a wild guess of who was coming out. It was Doctor Angela fucking Ziegler, but, she had a little girl with her. Dark skinned and had a mark under her eye. It was Fareeha, Ana Amari's daughter. I smiled evilly, putting the crosshair onto Angela's head. Just when I was about to pull the trigger, a large amount of gunfire echoed through the courtyard. Everyone's attention, except mine, shot towards the origin of the noise. I could only assume that it was the Blackwatch agents beginning the slaughter.

In one sudden motion, Angela picked up Fareeha and ran with her towards the interior of the base. Just my fucking luck huh? The one shot I get and it's ruined by collateral damage. As much as I wanted to shoot, to finally keep my promise. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't want Fareeha to get hurt. I never, in any job, liked to hurt kids. Even if it meant my own life. I grunted furiously and moved my sights over to some grunt, getting his weapon ready to fight the approaching Blackwatch agents. I lined up my shot and touched off. His body fell limp like a stone, just bang and done. The movies make it seem like bodies have some whole extra life bullshit. In reality it's just, Bang and drop. Nothing else.

I loaded another round into the chamber, lining up another shot. Bang. Another kill to my record. The Blackwatch agents were dropping like flies, you'd think an elite team would put in some more work, but no. It seems like the grunts were overwhelming them, I was the only one putting bodies to the floor. I kept shooting and shooting until I was basically out of ammo. The grunts seemed to have figured out my location, they were putting down heavy suppressing fire on my position. I couldn't lift my head up without hearing a bullet whiz past my ear.

I decided to back off from my position, didn't want to have my head blown off. Suddenly, I got grabbed by the collar and thrown backwards. My rifle flew out of my hands as I rolled and regained my footing. I jerked my head upward, only to see an old, old friend. It was Josh, looking at me shocked and confused. "Hu...Hunter?!" He asked confusingly, blinking rapidly to see if I was real. "What the- What the hell are you doing?!" He asked me his tone growing more furious.

I just laughed, grabbing my pistol from it's holster. "Just settling an old dept, fucker." I told him plainly, jerking my pistol upward, aiming it towards his stomach, and firing off two shots. Both seemed to have made contact, because he hunched over in a cry of pain. Holding his stomach tightly, blood slipping though his fingers. I holstered my pistol once again, grinning at my work, standing up to pick up my rifle, and began to walk away.

"Wh-...Why?" Josh asked me faintly, barely able to lift his head up.

I turned around, putting my rifle to his head, "Settling an old dept." I darkly said while pulling the trigger.

The loud bang of the rifle shot me upright in my cells bed. I was sweating all over. "No...no, no...That didn't happen...that didn't happen. It was just a dream." I mumbled as I buried my face into my hands. "It was just a dream."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 One Step At A Time

 _? ? 2077 ? Hours_

"They'll never forgive you you know." I said to myself, "Shut up!" I replied in return. "You've done to much to all of these people. Josh was right, you're no better than Reyes." I continued to scold myself like I was another person. "Shut the fuck up! If I'm no better than Reyes, than you're no better than me you cocksucking motherfucking cuntbag!" I yelled immediately turning to face the wall.

I blinked rapidly, and laughed hysterically, "OH I'm going a bit wee insane in this goddamn cell." I laughed some more. "All thanks to myself because I'm a big dumb goofball who fucked up the one job god gave him. Take care of my little itsy bitsy daughter."

I swear to god I've lost it worse than that Australian maniac that Talon hired. What was his name? Trashrat or Junkmouse or...something? I walked over to my toilet kneeled down and took a handful of the water, splashing my face and slapping myself.

"Keep it together Hunter. You're too goddamn deep to start losing it now." I told myself as I walked over to my bed. In all honesty, I don't even know how long I've been in here. Weeks, hell maybe even months. I lost count after 20 days. Solitary confinement is usually only supposed to be a few days right? You're supposed to have some kind of social interaction, but noooooo. The only thing I've been in here with is me, myself, and I.

Funny how they haven't even let Doc in to change my bandages, even though she has strictly demanded the guards let her do so. I've seen it outside of my cell. I can't hear, but I can damn well see. I sat down on my rock of a mattress, deciding to take off the bandages myself. I started with my leg, slowly peeling it off, already seeing some puss come out of the wound. _Is it REALLY infected again? I'm honestly gonna lose my fucking leg at this point._ I thought to myself, not even daring to take the bandage off of my head.

I heard a loud thumping on the plexiglas, I looked over to see Angela yelling at the guards. Quite aggressively from the looks of it. She had her medical bag in one hand while the other pointed at the guards and back down the hall. The guard nervously backed up slightly, holding his rifle close to his chest. He had the most fearful look on his face while he tired to calm Angie down. She wouldn't though, and it didn't seem like she was going to let anyone stop her this time.

Her yells continued for another five minutes until the guard finally broke and opened the door. "Stur Dummkopf." She muttered angrily to the guard in her native language, before walking in.

She turned towards me with a gentle smile, "Hallo, how are you holding up?" She asked me in a calm and collective tone.

"Oh I'm Fine Doc Just Me Myself And I In Here With Absolutely Nobody To Talk To!," I quickly told her before beginning to laugh hysterically again, "I'm fucking losing it Doc." I told her in a more serious tone.

She looked at me worriedly, "I-I can see that." She told me while approaching me. She took a seat next to me, "Joshua is doing everything he can to make sure you stay in here for the rest of your life. And not just in jail, he wants you to stay in solitary confinement with absolutely no human interaction. He wants you to lose your mind in here." She carefully explained to me, making my heart feel betrayed and saddened.

"Doc...how long have I been in here?" I asked her, looking up and into her eyes.

She sat there in silence, seeming to not want to answer my question for some unknown reason. She sighed, "Two months." She told me plainly.

I groaned and shook my head, "Doc I've been in here for two months and I'm already losing it. If I were to stay the rest of my life in this cell, I'm going to go insane." I told her with a hint of fear in my voice.

"I know...Me and Rose are doing everything vwe can to get you at least into a regular cell, but Joshua is preventing at. Alzough, with the information you provided, some of the leaders of Overvwatch are considering shortening your sentence. It turns out that everything you gave us was correct, with the acception of some abandoned bases." She joked, trying to bring up the mood.

I chuckled, "I just gave what I knew. If they were gonna stab me in the back, then two can sure as hell play at that game." I joked in return, getting a slight giggle from her. "But all jokes aside Angela, you've done so much for me and I can't thank you enough. I owe you big time if I ever get out of this cell." I told her in a serious tone.

"No Hunter you owe me no-"

"This isn't a social visit Doctor Ziegler, you said you were going to patch him up and take care of his mental health that's it!" The soldier yelled, trying to get Angela out of the cell, more than likely so he doesn't get in trouble from Josh.

"Dummkopf! I am helping his mental health by giving him social interaction! The human mind can't handle being alone for too long, he will go insane!" She yelled back in return, making the guard shut up once again.

I laughed, "You know, for a woman who's against violence, you sure are a feisty one."

"I just can't stand unfair treatment, especially to ones who don't deserve it." A gentle smile formed on her face as she put her hand on my knee.

My face grew serious as I moved her hand, "That's where you're wrong Doc. I DO deserve the treatment I'm getting. Is it fair? No. Do I like it? Not at all. But after all I've done, after all the hardship I've caused everyone here. I deserve every ounce of punishment that I am getting. Whether it kills me or it doesn't, I'll take it with the little honor I have left." I explained to her strictly. She may think that Talon made do the things that I did, but she's wrong. I did it, out of my own free will. I may have been tricked into doing it, but I still did it. I could've just forgiven them, as stupid as that sounds. Most people here I consider family, such as Angela, Winston, McCree, Reinhardt, and many more. Besides Angela, they may think of me as some dirty traitor like Reyes...and I don't blame them one bit.

"Hunter please, don't talk like that. I know you, I know that you wouldn't have dont it if you were in the righ-"

"You keep saying that!" I yelled as I jumped up, "You keep saying that I wouldn't have done it if I was in the right mind! News Flash Angela! I wasn't brainwashed to do anything." I snapped at her, she doesn't think I deserve punishment, but I sure as hell do.

"Listen Angela, I'm a soulless killer. Overwatch trained me, and Talon created me into a weapon. Now that I am captured, I don't deserve freedom, because I will use that freedom to hurt or kill others!" I continued to shout at her, making one of the guards step inside and keep an eye on what's going on.

I just glared at him, he glared at me in return.

"Hunter...please...see that it wasn't you." Angela stated slowly, her voice cracking as she held back her sadness. I don't know why she was trying so hard to make me see that it wasn't me. I knew that it was me...I had my sights on her head, by my own free will.

I groaned in frustration as I buried my face into my hands. "Angela, listen to me when I say this. I did everything by my own free will, it wasn't programmed, it wasn't put into my brain. I did it. I shot and killed people, and hell, I felt alive afterwards. I felt like I was slowly avenging my daughter who turns out isn't even fucking dead!" I paused and knelt down in front of her, "Doc...eleven years ago...I had my sights on your head. It was at the Swiss HQ. During the fall of Overwatch. I was there...and there is only one reason why I didn't shoot, and that was Fareeha. She was right behind you. It would've been collateral damage, and I didn't want to harm her, not because she was a part of Overwatch, because she was Ana Amari's daughter. That woman was like the mother I never had. I couldn't betray her like that. So I decided to take another opportunity, but that never came. Don't you see Angela! I'm a killer! I deserve nothing good in life! Whether you think so or not." I explained to her thoroughly.

She just stood up and carefully backed away, fear and betrayal gleaming out of her eyes.

I slightly looked over at the guard, and caught eye of his sidearm. "Soldier." I said plainly.

"Hmm." He replied, staring me down.

"Do me a favor would ya?" I asked him.

"And what would that be?" He asked coldly in return.

I just got down onto my knees and put both of my hands behind my head, "Kill me. End me, right here, right now. Make sure that I never get out of this cell alive and cause more havoc." I requested of him like it meant nothing.

I could tell that he was a bit taken back by the request. "Ex-Excuse me?" He asked confused.'

"You heard me. Put a bullet into my skull." I said to him once more.

The guard looked at Angela and back at me. Then he looked down at his pistol and slowly reached for it. "No...nonono...please don't do it!" Angela was yelling at him, holding back tears.

The soldier stopped for a second and looked up at Angela. He closed his eyes slowly and took his pistol out of the holster before putting a bullet into the chamber. "Soldier...Stand down! Please!" Angela was yelling as her eyes began to burst, tears streaming down her cheeks.

The guard began to approach me and stopped directly in front of me. He looked at his pistol and back at me. He put the pistol up to my forehead, "This is a noble thing you're doing...sir." The soldier stated as I closed my eyes, awaiting my overdue death. I felt every movement of the gun, every nerve that was in his hand, every twitch on that trigger.

Then I heard a loud bang and expected everything to immediately turn black. But it didn't, I was still alive. I opened my eyes to see the soldier looking back at Angela. She had her gun pointed at him. Her arms were shaking vigorously. She was obviously afraid of the weapon, and afraid of herself for firing it at another living human being. There was a large mixture of anger and sadness on her face. "Geh von ihm weg." She said angrily to the soldier, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

"Angela no! Let him do it! Let him end my life! I don't ever want the chance to hurt you again!" I told her pitifully, wanting to just die.

"No!" She yelled as the tears increased.

"Why Angela?! My life has been nothing but fuck ups and failures! I failed the most important job god has ever given me by handing Rose over to you." I yelled at her, trying to get her to let the guard do it.

"I...I-I just-"

"You just what! There's no redemption for me Doc, I'm a lost cause. Those soldiers should've just killed me when they had the chance. What reason could you possibly have fo-"

"I don't want to lose you again!" She interrupted me as she dropped her weapon and immediately broke down in tears.

The guard walked over and picked up her weapon cautiously before walking back over to me. He kneeled down to my level and whispered, "Listen, from what I've seen, she cares about you...a lot. If anyone is going to able to comfort her in this stage, it's gonna be you." He then stood up and walked out of the cell, urging the other guard to follow.

I stood up and walked over to Angela, sitting down beside her and trying to put my hands on her shoulders. She pushed me away, "Nein! Get away! Solve this on your own, like you always did! Never allowing anyone that cares help you!" She yelled furiously through her tears.

I could tell that I hurt her, and I hurt her bad. Once again I put my hands on her shoulders, this time she didn't resist or try to push me away. I pulled her close to me and wrapped my arms around her as she sobbed.

I've always pictured Angela as a close friend, but now I see that she is someone that truly cares for my well being. The least I can do is comfort her when she needs it...right?

 ***A Few Days Later***

 _? ? 2077 ? Hours_

I laid on my bed, contemplating the days prior to this one. How Angela showed how much she truly cared about me. And how much I hurt her. After the whole, incident, she patched me up once again. Asking me why I wanted to die, why I wanted that guard to just...end it all right there. I told her truth, I was afraid of myself, afraid of my own mental state, afraid that I may revert back to my old self. Nobody in this organization, deserved what I did to them.

I feel like it was the insanity talking and not me when all of that happened, but for some reason, that felt like the most sane thing I've ever done. I still feel like I should stay in this cell for the rest of my life. Now that I've had time to think clearly I realized that death is too good for me. If I'm gonna spend the rest of my life in this cell, then I'm not taking the easy way out, I'll sit in this room until the day I die.

I heard the plexiglas door open, I looked over to see Josh standing in the doorway, a look of anger and hatred on him. He scanned me, not saying a word. It was quite awkward, all the silence and obvious tension in the air. "So...you come to visit?" I joked, making myself chuckle. This only seemed to have angered him more, cause he aggressively took a step towards me and opened his mouth. "Yeah Yeah I remember, No Jokes." I told him and laid back flat on my bed.

"Why did you do it?" He asked angrily.

I lifted my head and looked at him, "Do what?"

"Ask the guard to kill you?" He clarified, his tone calming down.

"Because I thought that a soulless fuck like me doesn't deserve to live, but I was wrong. Dying is the easy way out. I need to spend the rest of my goddamn life in this goddamn cell so I can pay my debt to everyone here." I explained to him, letting my head fall back onto the bed again.

"Angela blames me you know." He told me.

"Blames you for what?" I asked curiously, not moving whatsoever.

"For your suicidal thou- er- actions." He corrected himself.

"Don't get pissed because this isn't a joke, you did lock me in a cell for two months with no connections to anyone other than my own thoughts, leading to my sanity decreasing, and me yelling at myself like I'm a whole other person." I grunted smugly.

This brought a sly laugh out of him, but he quickly returned to his former seriousness. "Listen, everything you've gave us has been confirmed. And as much as I would love to see your ass rot in here," He paused and sighed angrily to himself, "Winston and some of the others have a proposition for you." He finished in a even more furious tone.

I sat up in a quick motion, "If it gets me out of this cell than it's fine by me." I replied hastily, only to be stopped at the door.

"Ah, Ah, Ah." He mocked, "You think you're gonna walk around without some cuffs?" He teased as he slapped a pair of handcuffs on my wrists.

"Oh thanks buddy, cause I'm totally in a condition to do something while you escort me to Winston huh?" I asked sarcastically, not humored whatsoever at his little 'jokes'.

"Oh, I'm not escorting you." He evilly stated with a shit eating grin.

I saw two guards walk around the corner, immediately meeting their eyes with my own. At first I didn't recognize them, but then it hit me and it hit me hard. Those were the same two guys that beat the living hell out of me when they 'escorted' me to this cell.

I gave Josh a death glare, knowing that he ordered them to make this 'walk' hell. "You better hope this proposition is a death sentence old friend." I threatened boldly as I walked towards the two. "Alright you fuckers, let's get this over with." I told them as I approached, almost immediately getting punched in the stomach as a response. I felt the wind get knocked out of me as I hunched forward clenching my stomach tightly.

"Awww, what's the matter? Does the little baby have a tummy ache?" One soldier mocked, talking to me like I was an infant.

I groaned and stood up straight, "More like a headache for having to deal with you two idiots on this 'walk'. How 'bout ya do me a favor and not get us 'lost' like you did when you brought me here." I shot back, smirking and letting him know that I was gonna make his life just as bad as mine on this walk.

"Oh I'll give you a headache!" One guard barked as he slammed the butt of his gun against the side of my skull. My entire body jerked around as I fell to the ground.

Every damn thing was spinning, blood trickled down my face, guess he made a new gash that needs to be patched up. My head felt like it was on fire, it burned vigorously. I was beginning to stand back up, the world was spinning around me. I was dizzy as dizzy could be. I stumbled back and forth, trying to keep myself from falling.

"That's what happens when you're a smartass, now Come On!" The second guard barked, grabbing me by the collar and throwing me forward.

Believe it or not, the 'walk' wasn't as bad as last time, just a few shoves here and there. Nothing too serious, unless you count the new gash. I was lead into a lab of some sort, it had two levels. A bottom floor where it looks like experiments were done, and a second floor with a large computer and server. There were two people standing around Winston. One was in some kind of blue armor with a jump pack. And one in a very recognizable cowboy hat. Winston, McCree, and some mystery person.

I approached the three as respectfully as I could, they were once my coworkers, Jesse I called my best friend, now I'm not sure what I am to him. Winston was always a good guy er- friend to talk to, but the person in the blue armor had me baffled. I couldn't figure out who it was by any means. Whoever it was, these three were my superiors, whether I'm a prisoner or a soldier. I stood straight, as the blood dripping from my gash wound dried up, leaving a very noticeable red line down the side of my head.

The three all looked at each other and back to me, Jesse was the first to speak, "Uh..Hunter, how did you get that mighty gash on the side of yer' head?"

I gave a glance towards the two guards that escorted me, "Them. That one hit me with the butt of his rifle." I sold the two assholes out quickly.

"Soldiers, what is the meaning of this? Why would you strike an unarmed prisoner?" Winston asked loudly, a hint of scold in his voice.

"We were just doing what Commander Sanders ordered of us sir. He told us to be a rough as possible with this one whenever we would escort him through the base." The soldiers quickly explained, hoping to get themselves out of any kind of trouble.

The person in the blue armor lifted it's head up and yelled, "You two are dismissed! Be sure to send Commander Sanders in here ASAP!" She yelled furiously. The voice was way too feminine to be a guy, that was definitely a woman in that armor.

All three of them looked back at me. The woman had some kind of bird beak rim on her helmet, which would cover the top half of her face. I could see a smile forming on her face as she looked at me. "It's good to see you again Hunter." She happily told me.

I looked at her confused, trying to find something to say. My own words getting caught in my throat. "We've met?" That was the only thing I managed to get out.

She giggled, "Yes," She took off her helmet, "You were always like the brother I never had." She said to me with a smile.

My eyes were wide with shock, her, of all people, was one of the leaders of Overwatch, oh how Ana would've been proud. "I'll be a son of a bitch, Fareeha Amari. You've certainly grown." I told her with a wide smile.

"It's been awhile, we've all missed you dearly." She told me, walking towards me and hugging me.

"Amen to that, come here you little rascal!" McCree said quickly, pulling me out of Fareeha's hug and putting me into a headlock and giving me a noogie.

I laughed as I tried to get him to stop, "Jesse come on! Not this shit again." I told him as I managed to slip out of the headlock, letting out another chuckle or two.

"What?" He asked pretending to be innocent, "Can't mess with my best pardner just like old times?" He jokingly asked, nudging my side.

Everyone was cut short by Winston putting his enormous hand on my shoulder, I looked up, my eyes meeting his. "It's good to have you back old friend." He told me with a gentle smile.

I couldn't smile back at him, in fact I just looked away and shook his hand off of me. "Why? Why is everyone treating me so nicely? I'm a fucking traitor. I decided to betray all of you out my own free will. I'm not a friend, I don't deserve friends, or family. The only thing I deserve is suffering for what I have done. So WHY is everyone treating with such kindness?!" I asked loudly to all of them, both confused and scared.

"Because you weren't in the righ-"

"OH don't you start with that bullshit too. Angie has already fed me that crap, I WAS in the right mind. I did it out of my own free will, betraying everyone in this base, or dead by my hand." My voice began to trail off, turning from anger to sadness.

They all looked at each other, and decided to hit me with some shocking news. "Hunter, you weren't yourself pardner. Well you were, but you didn't betray us by choice." McCree started, making me glare at him for just going against what I explained to all of them. "Look, we went to the base coordinates you gave. Some were ghost towns, but most were occupied. One in particular, had your file."

"My file?" I asked curiously, my anger subsiding.

"Mmhmm, your file. Turns out that you went through four months of torture and interrogations and still didn't break." He explained to me carefully, making sure he wasn't giving too much at a time.

"No...no, that's not possible. I distinctively remember breaking after the first three weeks." I told him as I looked at them all hastily.

"After they couldn't break you, they decided to use some more...advanced methods. Neutral recompression-"

"Neural Reconditioning." Fareeha quickly corrected the gunslinger.

"Right, Neural Reconditioning. It's a hell of a lot like brainwash. It's the same thing they did to Amelie, Gerard's Ex." McCree stopped again, letting me contemplate what he had just told me.

"If that is true, then why did I still feel emotions? Widow, or Amelie can't feel anything whatsoever." I asked him, my mind racing to find a reason for him to lie, or joke about something as serious as this.

"I didn't take as much of it for you, they just needed to plant some fake memories into your noggin, making you think that you joined out of your own free will so that you wouldn't think of yourself as some kind of slave." McCree finished explaining, analyzing me to make sure I had everything.

"So...So I never-"

"Betrayed anyone out of your own free will. Talon was using you from the start." Fareeha answered for me, taking the words right out of my mouth.

I took a couple of minutes to process all of this information, Angela was right. I wasn't in the right mind. _Those Talon bastards are gonna pay for every ounce of blood I spilt for them._ I furiously thought to myself, already seeking revenge.

"Now Sharpshot, if we may still call you that. We brought you here because we have a proposition that you might like." Winston said, bringing me back to reality.

"Which is?" I asked plainly, tilting my head at the three.

"Come back into Overwatch, help us bring down Talon once and for all. Help us fight the good fight." He told me proudly, with a confident grin on his face.

I took a moment to think about my decision, not even a week ago I wanted to be shot dead right on the spot. I could spend the rest of my life in that cell, but would that help stop Talon? No, but it would bring justice to all that I murdered. If I did join back into Overwatch, I would be helping the world to be a better place, helping to redeem myself, one step at a time.

I looked up slowly at the three, the most evil grin I've ever made appeared on my face, "Count me in."

* * *

 **Hey guys thanks for reading. I wanted to let all of you know that I'm going to continue working on my other story, so this one is going to be left where it is for awhile. I hope you guys understand, and enjoy the story so far. Constructive Criticism is appreciated so feel free to leave some. Thank you all for reading and I'll try to get back to this story real soon.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Return

 _July 4th 2077, 1834 Hours_

I stood outside of the door to my old room, keycard in hand. I looked down at the keycard, rubbing the smooth plastic with my thumb. I never thought I'd ever come back here. Well, not as an ally at least. I inserted the keycard into the slot, making the door slowly creep open. It was dark, dusty, and rather untouched which surprised me greatly. Everything was just as I left it, besides the piles of dust on top of it all.

I looked down to my left and smiled slightly. There it was, my old rifle. Not the shit one they gave me at Talon. Not the little peashooter they gave me on my last mission here. Nah, this was my rifle. An ol' .233 Caliber Winchester Bolt Action Rifle from the early 2000's passed down to me from my grandfather. This was my father's rifle, and his father's before him. I picked it up, already feeling the layers of dust slip off and attach itself to my skin.

My palm stroked the barrel, taking every particle of dust off of the black steel. I blew onto the scope, making a huge cloud of dust puff out into the room around me. I coughed slightly, squinting my eyes to protect them. I grabbed the lever and pulled it upward then back. As smooth as silk. Doesn't seem like it's aged a day. I noticed the distinct, red tipped bullets the were in the magazine. I pushed a little switch on the trigger guard that made the magazine open and the five bullets fall to the ground below.

"This is my gun," I mumbled quietly, "There are many like it," I continued at the same volume, putting the gun in both of my hands, "But this one is mine." I finished strongly with a wide smile, glaring into the darkness of my room. I flipped a switch to my right, turning on the old light. The years of dust shadowed the light and made it dim. I walked over and rubbed the bulb, already feeling the thing warming up. After my hand left it, the room was much more noticeably brighter.

I set my rifle by my bed, as I always used to do. There was a desk on the right side of the room. Old, rugged wood was what it was made of. I noticed a couple picture frames on it, old photos of me and Rose. To my surprise, both of the frames were spotless. Not a single particle of dust covering them. Almost as if someone has been here before me, sitting at the desk, staring the pictures down. Only one person came to mind, Rose. Although, there was a new picture. One that I didn't recognize. In fact, there were a lot of pictures I didn't recognize. They were of Rose and Angela, both smiling at the camara. She was in an Overwatch Cadet uniform, proudly holding her new rifle.

Others were of the crew, Rein, Torb, Ang, Jesse, Winston, Fareeha, and someone that I didn't recognize. She was a brown haired woman, in a, what seemed like, old World War 2 British Aviator jacket with an emblem on the left sleeves that said, 'Slipstream'. She also had a weird device on her chest that glowed blue in the center. Whoever she was, she was standing next to Winston, pointing over at Rose, who was still wearing her uniform proudly.

"I used to come in here you know." A voice said from behind.

I jumped in shock, and turned around quickly to see who it was. It was Rose, standing in the doorway and leaning against the door frame. "Jesus honey, scared the hell out of me there." I told with a chuckle and half smile. Setting the picture back on the desk.

"That was when I finished my training and became a soldier. What me and Fareeha have always wanted to do." She said with a grin, looking at the floor.

"Well, I'm proud of you. Hell, I almost quit. Mainly because Morrison was so strict on us. His methods were exactly...gentle? Nah, not gentle. Reasonable is the word I would use." I told her in a hushed tone, reflecting on the old grouchy strike commander. "Hell of a man though, fantastic soldier. Guess all that stuff they pumped into him was good for something." I joked, chuckling lightly and getting a sly laugh out of her.

"I never really liked him. He always seemed angry, or frustrated with me." She admitted, biting her lower lip.

I took a seat on my bed, "He wasn't bad once you got to know him. But, I'll tell you what," I chuckled lightly, "He was surely against me keeping you here. But, Amari insisted. She said that if she could have her child here, I should be allowed to have my child here." I finished more seriously.

She continued to stare at the floor, obviously wanting to say something.

"Something on you're mind?" I asked concerningly. Letting my arm rest on my knee as I hunched forward.

"I know you just got resituated and all, but there's been a question on my mind for a very long time." She said quietly, walking towards the desk and picking up a picture frame.

I looked at her curiously, awaiting the long awaited question that clouded her mind.

She showed me the picture frame that showed me, her mother, and her. This picture was taken when she was very young. We were both smiling, we looked like one big happy family. "Who is my mother?" She asked firmly, a hint of anger in her voice. As if I've been lying to her about something her whole life. Which, technically I have. She always thought I was dead, yet, here I am.

"That's her." I replied plainly, answering her question in full.

"No. I mean, who was she? Why did she leave us?" She asked again, more frustrated than before.

I sighed heavily out of my nose, shaking my head, "Her name was Samantha Anderson. I met her on one of my first missions. Took a bullet for her actually. At first, I didn't think much about it. I was just saving another soldier. It wasn't too long after when I realized that we were both stationed at Gibraltar. She stopped me when I was on patrol and told me how thankful she was for me saving her life and risking my own. I wanted to tell her that it was nothing to be thankful for, I was just doing my duty. But that young, lustful, idiot inside of me wanted her, and wanted her bad. So I began to flirt with her. Soon after that, we got to talking, and then...we had sex. She told me she was on the pill so I didn't use protection. A month later she told me that she was pregnant and that she had slept with no one else but me, you were my daughter." I paused and looked towards the ground.

"I was pretty excited to be a father, the first person I told was Josh. He was happy for us, but warned us of what might come. We both knew what would come to. We could've been discharged, I was more than likely gonna get discharged." My voice grew lower. "Time went on however, and months later, you were born. I loved you more than anything in the world, and I didn't care about what happened to me, as long as you were safe. But, a week after you were born. Your mother vanished. Quit Overwatch and left without a trace. She left me with you, but, by that time I had moved up the ranks and became one of the top agents. Morrison and Reyes didn't approve of what I did, but Amari talked them into letting me keep you here. Where you were safe."

I dragged my hands over my face and groaned heavily. I always hated to reflect on my past, especially the parts that hurt the most. "As to why she left. That right there is a question that has haunted me for a long long time. Personally, I think it was cowardice. She was too scared of commitment, so she left me with you so I would the one who would have to deal with everything. Too be honest though, that was the dumbest decision of her life," I looked up at her, "Cause she never got to see our little girl grow into a beautiful young woman." I finished with a smile, truly proud of what my little girl has become. My smile quickly faded however, and I looked at the ground in sorrow. "And neither did I frankly..."

She quickly hugged me tightly, "It's okay...cause you're here now."

I wanted to hug her back, but I couldn't. The guilt didn't let me. "No it's not okay. I should've been here from the start. I shouldn't have let Talon use me like they did. I should've held out until Overwatch came to my aid, but I didn't. Instead I broke. I let them use me, whether it was brainwashed or not. I was Talon's weapon." I told her as I pushed her off.

"Look, as far as I am concerned, you are my child and I will never stop loving you. But I am not the father you deserved. You deserved a lot better. I failed you..." I told her as I felt my sadness begin to overwhelm me. I fought back tears, trying to keep my composure in front of her.

"Dad..." She knelt down in front of me and hugged me again, tighter than before, "You didn't fail me. You didn't fail anyone here. I read the file, Uncle McCree gave it too me. Talon brainwashed you. You aren't a god among men. No one is nearly mentally strong enough to resist brainwashing. But the strong do break free of it, as you have. All you needed was proof. Proof that Talon's words were all just lies. Proof, that I was still alive." She finished explaining to me calmly and thoroughly.

I didn't respond, I just buried my face into her shoulder and hugged my daughter as tight as I could. Never wanting to let her go. She was my everything. I could've killed myself on multiple occasions at Talon HQ. I could've ended the monstrosities right then and there. But my lust for vengeance was unbounded. I wanted it more than anything. That's what kept me going. That's what allowed to kill members of Overwatch, members of my family, without feeling a single thing but happiness.

And that, is what scares me the most. I don't want to become an emotionless killing machine like Widowmaker, Talon's greatest assassin. Frankly, I don't even think her previous self wanted to become Widowmaker at all. The things Talon does to it's prisoners, it's sickening. No, sickening is an understatement. It's inhumane. Every time I was asked to bring someone in, I didn't even bother to ask what they were going to do to them. I already knew. Sometimes they would dissect them, alive. Without any sedations. They would make them feel everything...

I brought myself out of my thoughts, pulling my face out of my daughters shoulder. I looked over at my rifle and pulled away from Rose. I picked it up as she looked at me curiously. "I ever tell you about your Great Grandfather? Or even your grandfather?" I asked, inspecting my rifle once again.

"No, Angela has told one story about Grandpa. It was the only one you shared with her." She responded sadly.

"Yeah, both your grandparents were killed during the Omnic Crisis. Which is the main reason I joined Overwatch in the first place." I said plainly, as if nothing mattered. On the inside though, I was torn. I never liked to talk about my parents, it's a topic I can't reflect on lightly. My grandfather however, he was a hero. My hero at least. Fought in Afghanistan during the war on terror.

"Your great grandfather served in the Great War On Terror. He served in Afghanistan. This was his rifle," I pulled of my old camo hat, "And this was his cap." I put the old hat on her head, "And I want you to have it. This was a gift from my father, and his father before him, and now I am giving it to you. You are my next of kin Rose. And I hope that someday you'll pass it down to your child as well." I smiled at her as I put the rifle to my side.

She pulled it off with both hands, "No no no, Dad I can't. Th-This is yours! It's always been yours! I can't remember a day where you didn't wear it." She told me as she shoved the hat back into my chest.

I laughed pushing the hat back to her, "Which is why I want you to have it. Which is want my father wanted me to have it, and why his father wanted him to have it. It may not look much, but this is a family legacy. That hat has seen more action than you can comprehend." I told her, my smile never leaving.

She was baffled, tongue tied, speechless. She couldn't even believe what I was doing. I never let her touch the thing when she was a kid. I've always been defensive over it. I'd probably kill a man over it. "Dad, no I can't really. This is yours, I don't want to take it from you." She nervously spoke. Pushing the hat towards me once again.

I looked down at the hat and back to her. "You aren't taking it if I give it to you." I said as I raised an eyebrow at her.

There was a moment of silence between us both. She kept looking at me, then the hat, then me, and back to the hat. "I'm not taking it back Rose." I plainly stated.

She slowly took the hat off of my lap and held it in both of her hands. She looked at me with eyes of fear, as if she was scared to take it from me. "Are...are you sure dad?" She asked once more, wanting my true confirmation.

"I'm sure honey. I'll even show a secret about that hat." I told her as held out my hand for her to give it back to me.

She quickly obliged, putting the cap in my hands. Probably trying to give it back to me. I flipped the cap over, there was a little tear in the fabric on the underside of the bill. I opened it and pulled out two dog tags. It read, Private First Class John Michael Shields, and the other read, Staff Sergeant Hunter Alan Shields.

"These are my and your great grandfathers dog tags. I've always kept them in my hat so he's always with me, and I put mine in there when I was captured, hoping they wouldn't discover who I was," I paused and analyzed my grandfathers early twenty-first century dog tag, "I only took them out when I needed some strength. I've lived my life trying to follow his footsteps, and one day I hope to achieve the same things he did." I explained while smiling slightly.

Rose took a seat next to me. She looked at the dog tags, and back to me, "What happened to him?" She asked cautiously, hoping it wasn't a sensitive topic.

I hesitated to answer, I didn't really want to talk about it, but I did want to tell his story. "He was Killed In Action," I looked over at her, "But he went out like a hero. He and his squad were pinned down by enemy fire. He decided to sacrifice himself and draw the enemies fire. He ran out into the open and laid down as much suppressing fire as he could. I don't think he let go of the trigger until he heard it click. His planned worked though, just not the way he thought. His squad moved positions and actually called for him to get to them while they laid down suppressing fire on the enemy machine gunner. While he running though...he was shot in the leg making him tumble forward. Lucky for him, he fell right behind some cover. His squad mates saw how of his cover was being chipped away by that gunner." I paused and grinned, mainly because I love to tell about what happened next.

"Believe it or not, he stood up in the heat of all that fire and shot the gunner straight in the head. Making him fall forward out of the three story building and fall to the solid hot ground below. His squad mates all made their way to his position. Their medic, Medicine Man as they called him, began to work on his leg." I paused again and breathed heavily out of my nose, this...was the part I hated to say.

"Then...a live grenade landed in the middle of them all. But your great grandpa acted fast. He dived on top of the grenade and suppressed the explosion, saving each and every one of his squad mates." I finished while biting my lower lip, handing her the dog tag.

"Did grandpa tell you this story?" She asked, rubbing her thumb against the smooth metal.

"No, your great grandfathers squad mates did. They came to visit me and my parents one day." I told her, seeing her give me a look of disbelief.

I laughed, "Yeah, I know it sounds far fetched. But it's true. They came to visit us to see how we were doing, and Medicine Man told us all the story. In reality my father never knew how his dad died. So this was news to him. In fact, I think I remember him crying after he heard the story. Although, these weren't tears of grief or sorrow. These were tears of pride. He was so proud of what his father did for these men, and he was glad he went out a hero." I finished telling her.

She inserted the dog tags into the hat once more. Then slowly put the cap on. She looked at herself in the mirror that was hung on my wall and smiled halfheartedly.

I gave her a look of concern, wondering if she didn't like it, or still didn't want to take it from me. "What's the matter? Do you not like it?" I asked, a bit hurt.

She immediately hugged me tightly, "No, I love it. Thank you so much dad." She happily said, truly thankful that I would give her something as important to me as that was.

She stopped hugging me in an instant with a gasp, "Oh! I almost forgot to ask you. Do you want to come out side and celebrate American Independence day? Angie and some of the others really wanted you out there." She excitedly asked, practically bouncing up and down in anticipation.

I chuckled, "Alright I'll go, I'm just surprised that they would allow fireworks, especially now that were operating covertly." I began to stand up and stretch my back. Hearing it crack and pop.

She stood up as well, "They aren't doing big stuff, like mortars. Just small stuff like fountains. We still have to keep it somewhat quiet." She giggled.

"Yeah, well, if I know Jesse half as well as I think I do. I know he'll do something big." I told her as we both walked out of the room.

She led me through the base, and, I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't even close to familiar with the place. It was almost as if I was never there before. The hallways never seemed to end, I did remember the hanger however. There was always a dropship ready for takeoff. Crates, pilots, and engineers scattered everywhere. Some were leaving however, probably going to see the fireworks.

Talon didn't really give holidays, it was always more work with them. Guess terrorism doesn't take breaks. The hanger seemed larger than I remembered, there were definitely more dropships stationed inside. Some having some...distinct pinups on them. I shook my head with a grin, guys never change I guess. I always felt like there were eyes on me. It seemed like everyone in those hallways, everyone in that hanger, they were all watching me, all studying me.

It made me feel pretty uncomfortable, but I knew the reasons. Most may have heard about what I've done. Maybe I was a grim fable, with an unhappy end around there. Maybe I was a legend, I doubted that greatly. The only thing legendary about me was my betrayal. Then again, accounting that factor, maybe I was a feared legend. An untrusted legend.

Not gonna lie, seeing everyone staring at me was pretty annoying. I caught a dropship crew giving me the dirtiest look I've ever seen. Without even thinking I said something about it, "Like something you see son?" I asked aggressively.

"No. Not one bit." He shot back, in an even aggressive tone that I gave him.

"Well better get used to it kid, cause I ain't going nowhere," I stopped in my tracks, causing Rose to look back at me.

"Dad, please. This isn't appropriate." Rose practically begged, not wanting me to cause a scene.

"Wait. Rose. This guy is your dad?" He asked Rose, looking more angry and confused than ever.

"Yeah, this is my dad. He just recov-"

"You come back now!? After abandoning your daughter for more than twelve years!? What kind of failure of a father are you!?" The man shot up, and stood directly in my face.

"Tom, you don't know what he's gone through-"

"No it's okay honey. He has a right to say what he said." I calmly stated, only before grabbing him with both of my hands and forcing him against the dropship. "But he needs a fucking lesson in respecting his elders!" I furiously yelled in his face. "Now listen here kid!"

He spit in my face, "Don't call me kid you traitor!" He yelled back.

"I'll call whatever I damn well please! You don't tell me how the fuck to parent! You think I wanted to leave my only daughter! For the last TWELVE YEARS I've thought she was dead you inbred cocksucker!" I screamed at him, pulling him forward a little and slamming him against the ship once again.

His fellow crew members all backed off a little bit, clearly scared that they were next. "DAD! Stop this now!" Rose screamed at me, trying to pull me off of him.

I let go of the young man. "How long have you been here son?" I asked calmly, squinting me eyes at him.

"Three years." He frustratedly replied as he wiped of his chest.

"You ever been captured by Talon?" I asked as calm as I could.

"No." He plainly stated.

"Then you have no fucking idea what they do to the people they capture." I angrily whispered in his face before storming off.

I could hear Rose apologizing to the group in the background as she rushed over to me. "I can't believe you did that!" She yelled angrily at me.

"What? A lesson needed to be taught." I plainly stated, continuing on.

She just groaned angrily, "Just follow me and try not to cause any more trouble." She said as she walked ahead of me.

Sooner than I expected, we made it to the courtyard. There were a lot of people sitting on blankets, laughing, sharing stories, and enjoying each others company. This brought a certain smile to my face and a unique happiness in my heart. "I'm finally home." I mumbled to myself.

"There's Angela!" Rose shouted as she pointed to the left of the courtyard, nearest the cliff.

To be honest, the golden hair could be seen from a mile away. It's too beautiful to miss. Rose and I walked through the crowd, making our way towards her. Once again, I could feel all the eyes on me. Staring me down as I walked past them. I tried not to care anymore, I didn't want to cause another scene. No one deserves it, they're all just trying to enjoy themselves.

"Hi Angie!" Rose greeted as she hugged her.

"Hallo Rose, Hunter. We're so glad you could join us." Angela happily stated.

I felt a hand rest itself on my shoulder, "I knew you wouldn't miss out on this day pardner." McCree said as he handed me a beer.

"Thanks." I said as I took the beer and twisted the cap off.

"It's good to have you back brother." He happily said.

"Cheers to zat my old friend!" A powerful voice said from behind me.

I turned around to see Reinhardt. The old German Crusader. The man that never turned down a good fight. The bravest man I knew. I smiled widely, "Holy shit! Reinhardt!? You're still fighting here?!" I asked, already kneeling down to hug the big man.

He laughed, returning my hug, "Ahh, yes. Zis old dog is still kicking with a few tricks up his sleeve. How are you my old friend?" He asked, letting me push away from him.

"I'm doing great! Seeing you made my day man!" I joyfully yelled at him. I always loved Rein, he was always the kind of person to love everyone he met, filling everyone with glee. He was a good man, great man even.

"Zat's great to hear. Come! Sit with us. We have much to discuss!" He yelled followed by a laugh.

"Here Hunter." Angela said as she scooted over and made some room on her blanket, "I saved you spot." She said with a smile, patting the open space next to her.

I grinned and carefully sat down next to her, trying not to spill my beer. "What took you two so long?" Angela asked curiously, trying to speak over the crowd.

"We ran into some...complications in the hanger." I said to her, trying to avoid the subject.

She gave me serious and disappointed look, "Define, 'complications'."

"I had a disagreement in the hanger, that's all I'm gonna say." I told her with a smug grin.

"What happened Hunter?" She asked, a little frustrated with me.

I just put beer up to my mouth to drink it, not saying a word.

She let out a frustrated groan before crossing her arms and watching the fireworks once again. I let out a laugh, "Oh come on Ang, I'm just messing with you." I said as I gently slugged her arm.

She showed me a little smile, clearly joking as well. We both laughed together. I missed this. I truly did. Maybe I didn't know what I was missing at Talon, but this is sure a hell of a lot better than anything you can imagine. Being surrounded by friends and family, that love and care about you. But I still can't help but feel, all those eyes still staring at me.

* * *

 **And Chapter 5, HAPPY 4TH. I'm so glad I got this done and all checked out today. Perhaps I missed some errors because it wasn't checked as properly as it should've been, but hey. I wanted to get this posted on American Independence day, and that's exactly what I got done. I really hope you guys enjoyed this, and please leave some constructive criticism if you have and, it's always appreciated. Anyways guys, it's been a blast. Hope you independence day goes off with a bang...okay that pun was pretty bad.**

 **-Hunting Brothers**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Just Like Old Times

 _July 4th 2077, 2141 Hours_

I sat on the warm blanket, the air filled with a slightly smokey aroma from the fireworks. Rose sat to my right, Angela sat to my left. McCree was beside Angela, and Reinhardt was behind him with Torbjorn. Rose was leaning onto my arm as we all watched what was left of the fireworks go off. I sat cross legged, my left hand resting on my knee while the right held my nearly empty beer. This was the good beer to, Coors Original. Something me, McCree, and Josh always used to get drunk off our ass to after missions. Celebrations were something we took a little too far back then. Hell, probably still would.

My eyes averted from the light show in front of me to look around the crowd. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. But, I still caught those select few that would stare. Eyeing me down till my eyes met theirs, then look away hastily, mumbling to their comrades. This was to be expected, not everyone is gonna welcome me back with open arms, hell, some might even try to kill me on the field if the get the chance. I don't blame 'em. Not one bit. These are the kinds of things I need to ignore however. I do NOT want a repeat of the hanger incident. I lost my cool, which is something I shouldn't have done. The kid didn't deserve it, he was saying what was right. I am a failure of a father, I did abandon her. I thought she was dead...

That's what I'm trying so desperately to put behind me, my past. The things I've done don't determine who I am. It's what I do to fix those things, and I'm not off to a great start.

"So..."Angela started, looking over at me, "Is this what you Americans do every year?" She asked curiously, tilting her head.

"Basically. We celebrate the day that the Declaration Of Independence was signed, and, as the name says, declared our independence from Great Britain. Every year since that day we celebrate what our forefathers did." I explained, taking the last sip of my beer.

I set the empty bottle to my side, returning my hand to my knee. "I love the colors, they're so beautiful." She said, observing the fireworks once again.

"Yeah," I looked over at her, observing the real beauty in front of me, "They sure are." I finished slowly, still looking at her without even knowing it.

She looked back over at me, and caught me staring. I felt heat rushed to my face as I blinked twice and looked away, pulling off a fake cough and praying the it's dark enough for her not to notice how red my face was. "The, uhh.. fireworks! They're very beautiful indeed." I said quickly and nervously.

I turned my attention forward, trying to hold the plainest face I possibly could, I could feel her eyes burning through the side of my head. After what seemed like an eternity however, she sighed and looked back towards the fireworks. The sigh threw me a little of guard, it sounded, sad... in a way. As if you were disappointed that something didn't happen the way you wanted it to. I was too nervous to look back at her, to analyze her expression. I just kept my eyes forward until I thought of something to remove the awkwardness.

I cleared my throat, "Hey, Jesse. Got any extras?" I asked him, trying avoid all eye contact with her.

He looked over at me confused, "Extra what?" He asked.

I put two fingers to my mouth as if I was holding something and puffed twice. He seemed to immediately get the idea.

"Ah, yeah I've got some." He said as he reached beneath his poncho and pulled out a cigar and lighter. He reached over Angela and handed them both to me, I grabbed my empty beer bottle and put it up to my mouth. Angela is always on Jesse's case about smoking, and my god would she be riding on my ass as well.

I caught Angela observing us both with a hint of suspicion in her eye. She eyed me down as I hid the cigar behind me. Then she slowly looked back at the fireworks, looking at me in the corner of her eye.

I waited a whole extra five minutes before I actually tried to light the thing. I flipped the cover of and flicked the lighter to life. A small orange, blueish flame came to life as I put the cigar in my mouth and lit it with the lighter. I closed the lighter and leaned back, using my hands to support myself.

But, before I could even inhale the large amount of tobacco filled smoke, my cigar was pulled out of my mouth and quickly extinguished by Angela. "Smoking's bad for your health." She mocked with smug grin.

"The hell Doc? Can't a guy live a little?" I asked, a bit frustrated at her.

"Nein." She replied in her native tongue. I didn't know a whole lot of German, but I know enough.

I heard Jesse chuckle, clearly amused on how quickly my cigar was taken away from me. "Screw you Jesse." I told him with a little pout. I was being a little childish, but I'm a grown ass man, why is she making my decisions?

"You know Doc, it's a bit rude to make someone else's decision." I told her, giving her a stern look.

She looked back at me, "As your doctor I have the right to make medical decisions regarding my patients health." She explained with a shrug as she looked back at the firework display.

I eyed her down for a bit longer, seeing Jesse in the background holding in a laugh. I flipped him off, which made his laugh slip out slightly. I got elbowed in the side by Rose, her brows narrowed as she was still looking towards the fireworks. I shot her a look as well, she didn't seem to care, not like she even payed any attention to it. The ladies sitting beside me obviously wanted to just watch the show. I just slouched forward, trying to withhold my irritation and just enjoy the fireworks.

I constantly grabbed my empty bottle of beer, putting it up to my lips trying to take a sip before realizing again and again that it was empty. I grunted and looked at Jesse, "Hey Jesse, any more beers?" I asked, lifting up and shaking my empty bottle.

He chuckled lightly, reaching into his cooler and grabbing a beer, "You sure you don't want another cigar?" He asked sarcastically, pulling another out of his poncho to mock me.

I opened my mouth to retaliate, but before I could, Angela smacked him in the back of the head and grabbed the cigar. "Nein, neither of you will be smoking on my watch." She said as she confiscated the cigar, slipping it into her jean pocket.

I laughed loudly, slapping my knee. "Not so funny on the receiving end is it cowboy?!" I teased, only to get my head smacked as well. My laughter ceased, I put my hand to the back of my head to rub it and get rid of the stinging.

"You tell me." He said smugly, handing me my beer and looking back towards what was left of the fireworks.

I eyed him again, not that there was any point to it. I wouldn't hurt any of these people, not anymore at least. This is my family, and were joking around, enjoying each others company, just like old times.

Another hour passed, the fireworks had ceased and people were beginning to go back inside of the base. Grabbing their things and laughing as the walked with their friends. I was about to get up as well, head back to my room. But Angela stopped me, "How did you like the fireworks?" She asked with a little smile, making me grin as well.

"Wasn't bad. Haven't actually celebrated any holidays for twelve years." I told her, a slight grin appearing on my face as I thought of a little joke, "Guess terrorism doesn't take breaks."

She giggled slightly, but it wasn't sincere it's one of those, 'It wasn't that funny but I'll laugh cause he's my friend' giggles. "Really now? They never let you do anything enjoyable?" She asked curiously. Wondering what their soldiers must go through for the cause they believe in.

"The only thing 'enjoyable' to Talon is a successful mission. Anything else was considered unnecessary ." I told her, remember the dark, dimly lit room with the single mattress they let me sleep in. It felt more like a prison, in a way it was. And I was their blind prisoner.

"So what's the deal with Talon? What are they truly fighting for?" Jesse chimed in, he too having questions he wanted answers to.

"Same thing any terrorist organization wants, world domination. We might as well call them the 'Third Reich'." I told him, drinking my beer once again.

"Come on Hunter. They've gotta have some kind of goal." He said, not buying what I had just told him.

"That's it. They just want to own everything and everyone. They're the kings, and we're the peasants in their eyes." I told him, giving him the only answer I could possibly think of.

"I'm not buying it." He said sternly, squinting his eyes at me. Seeing right through my bullshit answer.

"You think I know why they're doing what they're doing. Hell, I had one set goal when I was with them. I didn't ask questions, I didn't go to meetings. I wasn't told anything I didn't need to know. Fuck, I didn't make any friends. I just sat in my room, cleaning my rifle." I stopped and looked down at the ground for a quick second, "Or at least the shitty one they gave me," I mumbled to myself before continuing, "All that mattered to me during that time was...well...it was..." I stopped, realizing I had already said a little too much.

"Killing every single one of us." Jesse finished for me with a large exhale of disappointment.

"E-...exactly." I said with a great deal of disappointment in myself. "The actions I wanted to do... to all of you... the dreams I had." I squeezed my bottle tighter, feeling the glass began to crack within my grasp. "It makes me sick!" I yelled, squeezing the bottle with all of my strength as the bottle shattered within my hand. The glass digging into my flesh.

Everyone around me gasped, especially Rose. "Oh my god!" She yelled in surprise as I didn't even seemed fazed by my new injury.

Weird thing is, it didn't hurt. Sure a little stinging, but nothing serious. My fist was still clenched as tight as I could as my teeth were gritted. I was breathing heavily, sickened and angered by my thoughts. My OLD thoughts.

Angela grabbed my wrist almost instantly, dragging my arm across my body and holding it in her lap in front of her. "Hunter open your hand!" She commanded strictly.

I was still clenching it, I wasn't even looking at her. Hell I wasn't looking at anyone. I was just staring. Staring into my own mind, my own thoughts. As if they were just a bunch of movies playing on the big screen.

"Hunter! Open, your, hand!" She commanded even louder and even more strict this time.

I did as I was told, the stinging slowly turning into a sharp pain as every muscle in my hand tried to stretch against the glass. I groaned slightly at the pain, letting the Doc do what she does best.

She analyzed the wound, everyone huddled around her to try and catch a peak. Their faces showed both discuss and interest. Angela began to slightly pull on the glass, testing me to see how much it hurt. And it hurt a lot. I squeezed my eyes tightly with a loud groan. "How much does it hurt?" Angela asked gently, trying to look me in the eyes. My attention was not towards her, I was still staring forward. Wanting her to just pull the glass out and let me return to my room.

"Hunter..." She said softly, turning my head towards her and making me look into her bright blue eyes. My eyes were staring into hers, her face was full of concern as mine was just plain, a hint of frustration showing. "How much does it hurt?" She asked softly once again, her voice seeming to be so quiet that only I could hear it.

"A lot." I replied plainly, turning my eyes away. "Whenever you touch the glass. But that's to be expected is it not? Just pull it out Doc. Like you did the bullet." I said with a bit of aggression. As the words left my mouth I immediately regretted the tone I had with them. I didn't mean to seem mad at her, or anyone for that matter. I was just mad at myself. Venting it out on them isn't gonna help anyone.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her facial expression change just a tad. She was hurt by my tone and I knew it. The way I said it made it seem as if I was mad at her when the wasn't true at all. But seeing how hurt she was, only made me angrier at myself. She slowly looked down at my hand as she grasped it with both of her own. Gently rubbing the back of it with her thumbs. I began to turn my head slightly towards her, questioning what she was doing. Then she grabbed the glass shard and ripped them out, making blood and detached skin splatter over the dark green grass. The blood glistened like dew, while the skin already began to rot away.

I groaned sharply, my hand tensing up and I struggled against the urge to clench it. My eyes were squeezed shut as sharp breaths seeped their way through my gritted teeth. I slowly opened my eyes, my breaths calming. I looked over at my hand, it was covered in crimson liquid still dripping onto the blanket that we were all sitting on. Angela's were covered in a lighter shade of red. Trailing down her forearm and seeping into her sleeves. She didn't seem to care. She was staring at my hand, not studying or analyzing the wound, just...staring. She took a deep breath, her exhale being a bit shaky.

She began to slowly stand up, urging me to do the same. "Come. I'll get you patched up in my office." She told me quietly, not even looking at me.

I did as she said, standing up as she walked over to my right and held my right upper arm with both of her hands. I grasped my right wrist tightly, trying to stop some of the blood flow. We both began to walk out of the courtyard, leaving everyone behind us in a mixture of concern and confusion. She basically guided me throughout the base, leading my steps as I was too distracted at the sharp pain in my hand. I didn't remember much of this places layout, well...that's a lie. I remembered it like the back of my hand. It's how much they changed it is what I'm not used to. I did remember that her office was basically just beyond the infirmary, although you had to go through it to actually get there. There was a small waiting room just outside of her office, mainly for patients that needed little things like checkups or whatnot.

We got to the Infirmary in what seemed like no time at all, too lost in my thoughts and the pain I guess. As we walked through, I could smell the cold scent of blood and hear the groans of wounded soldiers. I remember bringing Rose to Angela for checkups. I'd have to pick her up and hold her close so she wouldn't get scared and start crying. She always hated to see people hurt. So I'd imagine becoming a soldier has been a struggle for her. Hell, I haven't even figured out what she does yet. Knowing her, she probably became a medic like Angela. She always liked to help people. I remember one particular time when I brought her through here, she pushed herself off of me, and with tears on her eyes, she went and hugged one of the wounded soldiers, telling him that she hopes it would make him feel better.

The soldier played along, and told her that he was already beginning to feel better. It was a lie and we all knew it. The man was missing his arm. He was in great pain, and yet, he went out of his way, hid all of his pain, just to make a little girls day. And boy did it work. She was so happy after that, her tears immediately stopping as she ran back to me and allowed me to bring her to Angela. I wanted to thank that soldier, I really did. But, that was the last checkup I ever took Rose too. And sadly I never figured out his name. I was captured a week later. Taken to Talon, created into a weapon, recaptured by Overwatch twelve years later, imprisoned by Overwatch for two months, and here we are. Taking a trip down memory lane as we made our way through the large double doors into the waiting room just before Angela's office.

There was a dark crimson trail behind us as my blood dripped to the floor. My breaths getting heavier and sharper as the pain began to increase. Angela brought me into her office, more of a medical lab really but that's beside the point. There were large cabinets and counters stretched along the walls of the room. A large operating table in the middle, positioned next to large trays covered in medical tools. She brought me to the table, "Sit." She said sternly, pushing me into the table before walking over to one of the counters and opening a drawer.

I complied, taking a seat, still holding onto my wrist tightly. My skin turning into a dark shade of blue at this point. I eased my grip, feeling a tingly feeling in my hand as the pain faded slightly. She pulled out a cotton ball, alcohol, medical wrap, and some gauze. She walked back over to me before setting her tools on the tray beside me. "Can you continue to hold your wrist tightly please." She asked, still not even looking up at me. Instead taking the cotton ball and dabbing some alcohol onto it.

"Yeah, I can do that." I replied in a low, yet quiet tone. Squeezing my wrist tightly once again as she began to dab my wound with the alcohol covered cotton ball. As the soft, cold piece of cotton touched my cuts. It stung like nothing else. I began to let small yells seep through my teeth as continued to clean it. I did my best to resist the urge to push her hand away. But I remembered what happened last time. This needed to be done, it needed to get cleaned. And she is the one to do it.

After minutes of agony, my wound was clean enough for her standards. The cotton ball was stained red. She began to put gauze on the wounds before wrapping my entire hand in medical wrap. However, as she was wrapping my hand up. She began to sob, "You...You are always..." She stuttered through the sobs. Finishing wrapping up my hand and covering her face with her own, not even caring about the blood the was covering her hands.

I looked over at her, my eyes flicking up and down her body. A felt my heart ache, _Why am I hurting her this much?_ I thought to myself. I don't mean to hurt her, I mean to hurt myself, but, it's clear now that hurting myself only seems to hurt others. "I'm sorry." I apologized gently.

She looked up at me as blood mixed tears streamed down her face. Her face was mostly red from my blood. It was pretty light though and hard to see, but it was there. "I'm sorry for hurting you Angela. I don't mean to." I told her, trying to be as sincere as I could.

"The-Then why do you keep hur-hurting yourself?! Yo-you even asked the guard to kill you!" She yelled in return, her tears increasing.

I looked forward, "Angela, a man with a past as riddled as mine. A man who has done the things that I have done. A man, who's dreams have been as twisted, psychotic, and sick as mine. Doesn't deserve good things in life. But I'm still getting goods things coming to me. I'm trying to redeem myself here Angela, I truly am."

"But we've already forgiven yo-" She interrupted me, her face retreating into her hands.

"That's not the point!" I interrupted her as well, "People here, have been affected by my actions. I've torn families apart. I feel as if I deserve some pain. And whether or not I inflict it upon myself, intentional or unintentional, I see that it hurts you more than it hurts me. And I'm sorry." I apologized again, explaining the full reasoning behind it.

"You weren't yourself though!" She yelled, lifting her face up once again. "You had no control over what you did because you were brainwashed into doing it! Yet you still feel as if you did by sheer will, Why!?" She asked.

I couldn't help but snicker, "Ya know. It's funny, even before y'all found my file. Even before you all knew I was brainwashed into doing what I did." I paused and looked over at her with a small grin, "You still believed I wasn't myself. You were the only one who thought that too. You knew me better, than I knew myself." I told her, getting a little smile from her. It faded quickly however, her tears still flowing as she let her head drop.

"Angela." I said gently, lifting her head up by her chin. "I'll try to be more careful with myself. I'll do my best to control my anger, I'll do whatever it takes as long as it makes you happy. Alright?" I promised her from the bottom of my heart.

She stared into my eyes, "Pr-promise me." She commanded, her stare was melting my heart.

I exhaled deeply nodding my head slightly, "I promise." I whispered quietly.

Not another word was spoken, just us two staring at each other in an eerie silence. Then, she wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly. "Thank you..." She whispered into my chest.

I was a little taken back by the hug, but I returned it none the less. "Anytime." I said back, gently letting my hand glide up and down along her back. Patting her a little.

I sat with her until she stopped crying, which, not gonna lie, felt like quite a damn while. She wouldn't let go of me, even when the tears stopped. She said that she would be at my room everyday at six o'clock sharp for checkups. I told her that it was fine, but she insisted. No arguing with her really, just do as the Doc orders. Still, on my way back to my room, I couldn't help but think about the way she reacted, the way she cried. The way...it hurt her...when I was hurt.

 _July 5th 2077 0812 Hours *Angela's POV*_

I didn't sleep much, or at all for that fact. I just sat at my table, the steam of my coffee was the only thing I could stare at as I pondered the previous night. We were all just having a good time, laughing, telling stories, or just enjoying the fireworks. I would call that night spectacular, but, that would be a lie. Hunter seems to be going through a lot mentally, but the way he hurts himself physically, it's something I can't bare to see. That's the thing I can't figure out though, I hate seeing anyone get hurt, but with him it's...different. It's as if I can feel the pain too, whenever he gets hurt, my heart hurts to a point beyond what I can handle.

 _Am I...? No, no of course not, that's extremely unprofessional. Falling in love with a coworker. You're better than that Angela._ I scolded myself in my mind as I scowled, _But maybe... maybe he's feeling what I'm feeling... not sure about what to do with it... perhaps I coul-_ My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on my door. But, at this hour? Must have been important. I got up and walked to my door, leaving my coffee at the table. I answered the door to find Jesse standing with his hat at his chest. He looked distressed, which worried me quite a bit.

"Jesse?" I asked, "Is something the matter?"

"Yeah, uhh." He scanned up and down the halls, seeing if anyone was in sight, "You mind if I come in for a second?" He asked hastily, leaning towards me and whispering his request.

I stood out of his way and gestured him inside, "Of course."

He hastily made his way in, walking towards my table and placing a holotape on it. "You might wanna see this." He told me slowly, "But be warned, it's not for the light of heart." He cautioned me, before backing away from the table and crossing his arms.

The holotape started, showing a large colored video of Hunter, strapped to a chair, he seemed unconscious. I looked at him with worry, already feeling my heart ache, "Jesse...what is this?" I asked him in both worry and curiosity.

"It's Hunter's interrogation footage." He said with a sigh, "I know this is basically at random, but I reckoned that you may want to see this. To see what he went through, it might help you figure out some ways to help him. After the whole incident last night, I'm worried 'bout him. And I know for a fact you are too. So, I just had a feelin'." He explained to me, his eyes never leaving the video.

I found my eyes glued to the footage as well, both curious and fearful of what would happen.

Hunter began to rise to consciousness, his eyes slowly opening as his head rose upward. He grunted heavily, looking around the room in a slight panic. Tugging at his restraints hastily. "Oh...right..." He muttered calmly as his struggles ceased suddenly. He seemed rather...calm, during this whole ordeal. As if he was expecting to be captured. "Fuck." He cursed aloud, testing his restraints once again before scanning the room once more.

Suddenly, a door could be heard creaking open. The squeaking of the hinges were enough to send chills down someones spine. "Well, good to see you've awoken." A low voice spoke, slowly walking into view of the camera and circling around Hunter like a shark.

Hunter only snickered, "So, Talon caught me eh?" He asked, a little too calm at the situation before him. Knowing Hunter, he probably wanted to make his torturers life as bad as he was going to make his.

"Is it not obvious? With our elite task forces it would seem easy to catch their prisoners. Some are flattered to be in the presence of such greatness." The man praised, talking about Talon as highly as the people did with Overwatch in the past.

"I don't see what's so flattering about a terrorist organization. Kinda seems dishonoring if you ask me." Hunter shot back, smirking at his captor, who stood in the darkness behind him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You Overwatch agents and your viewpoints, thinking that we're the bad guys. Is that what your trainers tell you? That we're the bad guys? We're the terrorists?" He asked in return, already knowing the answer to his own question.

"I guarantee you already know the answer to that one." Hunter stated, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back against the chair.

"You're right I do." The capture retorted, analyzing a tray full of torture instruments at his disposal in the background. Hunter couldn't see him, completely unaware of the devices the man had, for now at least.

"So, what does Talon want with a grunt? I can't be that imp-"

"Oh, we want nothing to do with a grunt. Mr. Shields. We wanted Hunter Alan Shields. Aliased, Sharpshot. Overwatch's finest marksman." The torturer spoke in his low, raspy voice. Inspecting a knife and placing it back onto the tray in front of him.

"Well, you definitely got the name right. But the title of Finest Marksman belongs to Ana Amari." Hunter replied, his voice was filled with pride at speaking about his former mentor.

"Wasn't she killed by THE finest marksman? Widowmaker?" The torturer shot back, turning his head towards Hunter to see his reaction.

Hunter's face was one filled with fury, although he took a deep sigh, and kept his composure. "True, but legends never die. Besides, she didn't need all kinds of technical advances to get to where she was." Hunter retaliated, narrowing his eyes and trying to turn his head towards his captor. "How did you figure out who I was anyhow? Did you find the dog tags?" Hunter asked curiously, looking forward towards the camera once again.

"We didn't need dog tags to identify you. You see, Talon has had it's eye on you for quiet some time. We believed you'd make a viable...asset, to our cause." The captor spoke, pushing the tray filled with torture instruments away from him and approaching Hunter from behind.

"Now that's flattering. But, sorry to tell you that you've captured the wrong guy. I don't know shit." Hunter lied as he shook his head at his captor.

"Oh, now that's just cute. The ol' 'I don't know anything' trick. Let's see how long that'll last shall we?" The man asked, turning Hunter's head towards him before punching him straight across the face with great force. I couldn't help but gasp and cover my mouth with both my hands as I watch this. Hunter's hat flew off his head and to the ground below. We couldn't see the hat from the camera view, but we both knew it was there.

The blow made the entire chair Hunter was strapped to creak, Hunter's body leaning as far as the restraints would let it away from the man. Hunter spat out blood onto the floor. Shaking his head quickly and laughing lightly, "Man, if that's all you got. Then they hired the wrong guy for this." He mocked, smirking lightly as he rose his head back up and stared at the camera.

The man only snickered, "Mocking the tormentor? That's a new one." The man scuffed sarcastically, walking in front of Hunter and hunching down to his level, "But if you think that's all I got, hooooo boy, you've got a looooong way to go buddy." He finished, slapping Hunter lightly on the face twice. Standing tall and towards Hunter's hat, or at least the direction it flew off to, "What's so special about this thing anyway? Every picture we've got of you, you have this thing on your head." The man asked, picking up the hat and analyzing it, "Just seems like a piece of junk to me. I mean, look at it! All torn and banged up. Should just burn it." The man said smugly with a smirk, taking a lighter out of his pocket and flipping it open.

I could see Hunter's eyes grow wide as he stared at the man, "No!" He yelled, "Don't...don't burn it..." He begged, looking up to the man pitifully. "Please...it's all I have left..." He whimpered, feeling utterly useless in his condition. I know how affectionate Hunter is over that hat. I know the sentimental value the hat bestows. I know what he would do, to anyone that would threaten it.

The man looked towards Hunter, flipping the lighter closed. "Ahh, sentimental value. I can respect that. Now, tell me. What is so sentimental about this hat?" He asked, letting his arms fall to his side as he looked at Hunter, eagerly awaiting his tale.

"Why should I tell you?" Hunter spat out angrily, staring up at the man.

"Well, if you're not gonna give me a reason then maybe I just should.." The man started as he flipped the lighter open and sparks a small flame to life, inching it ever to closer to the camouflage hat.

"No!" Hunter yelled, tugging at his restraints, begging to get loose and reclaim what was his. "Please...please...I'll tell you...just leave it be please!" He finished, closing his eyes tightly as he thought about his past. Hunter has told me the story once before, although he had a little too many, and was reluctant to even discuss it further. I knew what kind of things he's seen. The pain he's gone through, some things I can relate a little to well too. "That hat, belonged to my grandfather. He served in the Great War On Terror in the early 2000's. He was my hero, gave his life to save his squad. This...may seem stupid to you, but he left my father that hat in his will. Along with some other objects he owned. And my father passed it down to me...shortly...shortly before..." Hunter stopped for a second and closed his eyes tightly, letting his head fall low. "Shortly before he and my family were...killed...in the omnic crisis..." Hunter stopped again, light sobs could be heard. I saw tears rolling down his cheeks as I felt a certain sorrow in my own heart as I remembered my parents, and how they died in the same way.

"That hat..." Hunter started, inhaling deeply and shrugging off what was left of his sadness, "Is ALL I have left of my family..." He finished, staring at the man. his eyes begging him to leave it be.

The man flipped the lighter closed and tossed it aside. "I can respect that. I too, lost my family in the omnic war." He pulled out a necklace with a two rings hanging off it. "I lost my wife...my daughter..." The man took a deep breath before continuing, "I may be here to hurt you, but I too know what it's like to hold sentimental value on an object. So, I promise, no one, will touch this hat." He told him reassuringly, setting the hat among the instruments of torture. Never to be touched by anyone looking to harm it.

Hunter sighed a breath of relief, truly grateful for what his TORTURER was doing for him. "Thank you...thank you so mu-" Hunter was interrupted by another punch to his right cheek. Sending blood and...a tooth, to the ground below.

"Ahh, but you see. You've mistaken my respect as kindness. I'm not here to be nice to you." The man paused as he pulled a tray fill of knives towards them, picking one up and letting his finger slide along the blade. I could already see where this was going, I could feel my stomach churning as I suddenly began to feel sick.

"Jesse..." I mumbled quietly, holding my stomach tightly. He looked over at me, his face filled with guilt, "Tur-..Turn it off..." I said, feeling something slithering up my throat.

Before Jesse could even think about turning it off, the man plunged the knife into Hunter's gut. Hunter let out a breathless gasp, his body weezing for air as his eyes were wide with shock. "I'm here to make your life a living hell." The man said in a devilish low voice. Twisting the knife in Hunter's gut and pulling the knife out quickly, making blood splatter all over the camera lens.

That did it for me, I could feel stomach acid touching the roof of my mouth as I leaned over and threw up. I could hear Jesse turn the video off hastily as I tried to compose myself. Getting the rancid taste out of my mouth. My legs felt weak, they trembled as I had one hand on the table to support myself, and the other clenching my stomach tightly. My breaths were large and shaky, my whole body felt weak as I tried to my best to keep myself from falling to my knees.

Jesse walked over to my side, hunching over till his head was next to mine. His hand was on my back, "You good?" He asked, his face full of concern and distress. I could tell just by looking at him, he too was horrified at the short scene that we watched together.

I coughed roughly before spitting onto the floor once again, still trying to get the disgusting flavor out of my mouth. " I should ask you the same thing." I replied, standing straight and leaning against the table once again.

"I'm not the one throwing up, but...no I'm not. That was just the first twenty minutes." He told me, patting my back twice before standing straight as well, putting his thumbs in between his belt and pants and holding them there.

"How much more is left?" I asked, looking at him with worry and a little fear.

Jesse didn't answer, he just looked at me. Staring right through me. He was hesitant to say, I don't blame him for it.

"Jesse?" I called for him again, perhaps he didn't hear me the first time. His mind busy with trying to erase what he had just seen.

"I heard ya." He told me, looking towards the ground. "Six hours." He confessed quietly, his eyes still locked to the ground below. He looked back up at me, "There are a lot of cuts, lot of different sessions. The thing that I can't figure out though, is that he looks fine in some of the sessions, and like hell on earth in others. It just... doesn't make a damn bit of sense." Jesse rubbed his forehead, shaking his head lightly.

"Have you...seen the whole thing?" I fearfully asked, kinda hoping for a 'no'.

"I can't force myself to. I can't get passed the first hour. I tried all night I couldn't bring myself to watch it any further." He told me, his voice trembling slightly, truly horrified at what he has seen.

I glanced at the holotape he had brought, my curiosity and interest peaking. Jesse seemed to have caught my eye. Cause he grabbed the holotape hastily, "I know that look Angela. And if you couldn't handle getting passed that... then you'll be traumatized at what's further down. I'm sorry I even brought the damn thing here. I just...I reckoned that it would help, but I was wrong. This is the only copy, and I'm holding onto this, so YOU don't get any funny ideas." Jesse said sternly, shoving the holotape into his jean pocket.

Out of sight, out of mind, it's what the Americans say right? If so then that's a lie. Him keeping it away from only peaked my interest further, the only thing I could think about was that holotape...and the large amount of vomit on my floor...

I groaned in disgust at my floor, this is gonna take me forever to clean, but that's not my prime focus at the moment. I looked up at Jesse, my eyes meeting his, "Jesse, you brought this here in hopes that I can help Hunter mentally. I'm no psychiatrist, I know more about the physical health than mental health, but that never stops me from trying. I took a vow Jesse, I promised that I would do anything in my power to save any life I possibly could. Jesse...I need this video if I have any hope of helping Hunter mentally. Perhaps he doesn't even remember this whole ordeal, perhaps he doesn't even know, what was done to him before he was brainwashed. But if he does, if he's hiding those memories away, only to be revealed in his dreams, or just at random points in time. I'll know what he went through, I'll know how to help him." I explained to him thoroughly, trying to get him to let me see have the holotape.

I want to help Hunter, I really do. And to see that...that wasn't even a day into his capture, and they already treated him like that. They had already plunged a knife into his gut. Many would be traumatized from an experience like that, yet, beside his anger, he's still acting relatively normal. Jesse cursed under his breath, looking away from me and bringing his hand up to his chin, stroking his beard lightly. "Fine, but you don't watch it without someone with you, are we clear?!" Jesse shot the question towards me, pulling the holotape out of his pocket and holding it firmly in his hand in front of me.

I grabbed the holotape slowly, trying to pull it out of his hand, but he had a steel grip on it. And I wasn't gonna be able to get it away from him by force. He brought his face close to mine, "I, need, your word Angela. I don't care who you watch this with, it could be me, it could be Fareeha, hell it could be Hunter himself for all I care!...Actually, I take that back. You do NOT watch this with Hunter under any circumstances understood! If there is a chance that the brainwashing clear his memories of what he went through, then I want it to stay that way. So Angela," He paused and pulled the holotape closer to him, my hand following along with it. "Do, I, Have, Your Word?" He asked aggressively, his teeth gritted at the question.

I was a little taken back by his actions, sure Jesse and Hunter are practically brothers, but he's never been this aggressive with me, let alone stern. I gulped in the little fear I had and looked at him with utter seriousness, "Yes, Jesse. You have my word." I promised him reassuringly.

He sighed slightly, releasing his firm grip on the holotape and allowing me to take full possession of it. "And I know you'll keep it." He said quietly with a little grin. Then he looked down at the large pile of vomit on the ground below us, "C'mon, I'll help ya clean." He said as he walked to my counter, opening up a drawer and pulling out a towel.

My room was a bit...different from everyone else's. In fact, all of Overwatch's top agents rooms were. They were basically mini apartments, except Hunter. He never liked the idea of having a better room just because he was a higher rank, so he stuck with the room he had when he was just a recruit, or 'rookie' as many like to call them. I walked over to my kitchen sink and grabbed a wet sponge, soaking it with soap and water as I walked over to the large pile Jesse had basically already cleaned.

I started to scrub my floor, the scent was getting to me a little. It was disgusting, I was a bit embarrassed, feeling my face grow warm as Jesse had a look of discomfort on his face. "God Angie." He complained, covering his mouth and coughing, "The hell did you eat?" He asked jokingly, but rather serious at the same time.

My face grew even hotter as I looked away from him, my cheeks probably a bright rosy red. "Shu-Shut up Jesse." I stuttered through my insult, scrubbing the floor more hastily rather than efficiently.

He only snickered as he continued to scoop up the vomit in the towel, constantly making trip back and forth to the sink to wash off the towel as I scrubbed the remnants away.

As we were cleaning however, another knock came onto the door, followed by a young soldiers voice. "Doctor Ziegler. Doctor Ziegler please come to the door." The young man asked politely. Knocking an additional three times, probably thinking I was asleep at this hour. By now actually it was passed curfew, or at least I think it is anyway.

I got up, walking to the door, cracking it open slightly. "Hallo?" I greeted questionably, wondering what I was needed for.

The soldier stood straight his arms at his side in an instant, "Sorry for waking you ma'am, but you're needed in the planning room immediately. Winston's orders ma'am." The soldier told me, his posture never changing.

I took a second to ponder what Winston could need, then again, if it was in the planning room. It must have been a mission I was needed for. "Alright, uhh, danke soldier. I'll be right there." I told him, getting a salute in response as he turned and jogged down the hall. More than likely getting to his Basic Training Session.

I closed the door, turning around to see Jesse nearly finished cleaning, "What's that 'bout?" He asked, looking up while still scrubbing the floor.

"Winston said I was needed in the planning room. I must be going now." I told him as I hastily went for my lab coat, slipping it on and making my way to the door, still slipping my arms through the sleeves

"Then you best be goin' I'll finish up here." Jesse said, giving me a reassuring nod and continue to clean my floor.

"Danke Jesse, if you finish before I return please lock up when you leave." I told him, opening the door and already stepping out of my room.

"No problem." He replied as I shut the door behind me, speed walking through the halls to the planning room.

I didn't see many in the halls, guess I was wrong about it being past curfew. But still, the base seemed so...abandoned. It was quiet, a little too quiet. I did see a few making there way to the training facility, probably trying to get there early to impress their superiors. Seeing them do that made me smile, I remember when I use to do that. Showing up to the facilities almost an hour before Jack did. He always smiled at me when he arrived, his ceramic coffee mug in hand. My smile faded along with my happy memories when I thought of Jack however...the old grouchy strike commander certainly had a lighter side to him, but just his memory was enough to make me feel depressed for the remainder of the day.

I looked up and at the signs in the halls, signalling me which direction I need to go in. Infirmary, left, and Shooting Range, right...wait...Shooting Range? _Oh scheisse. I missed the turn._ I grudgingly thought to myself as I slouched forward with a loud groan, turning quick on my heels and heading back the way I came. Walking another three minutes before finding the right turn.

I walked inside, my eardrums immediately met with loud shouting between a couple of agents.

"Like hell Winston! If this thing is happening I'm gonna be helping with the mission!" Hunter yelled, slamming his good hand against the table.

"Not with your injury Hunter, you're in no condition to shoot. Besides, we don't even have the plans of this base. We are going in blind, we need a clear schematic before we can do-"

"Uhh, excuse me...what have I missed?" I asked, both curious and concerned in what was being discussed here without me.

Winston's attention immediately shot to me, "Oh Angela, glad you could make it. Uh, you see, Hunter has brought some very...interesting information before me, but I can't confirm or deny if his information is cor-"

"I'm telling you Winston, that's where they brought him!" Hunter yelled, trying to get his point through to Winston.

"Brought who?" I asked, still trying to get caught up to speed on what was going on here.

"Akande Ogundimu broke out of Numbani maximum security prison yesterday while we were all enjoying the Forth of July." Fareeha told me in disgust, she was angry that it happened the one day we all take a day off.

Winston looked back at me, "Hunter here claims that Talon has a very low profile headquarters in the desolated town of Eichenwalde. He thinks that's where Talon took him when they retrieved him from Numbani." He explained as he adjusted his glasses.

"It's not just a headquarters Winston, it's THE Headquarters. That's basically Talon's main base of operations right there, and it has their main face of Talon in the middle of it. There would be no better time then now to strike." Hunter suggested, well...more of demanded. He was so sure that this was where Doomfist was located.

"I can't just send in a team blindly Hunter, we need to be sure if there is a base there, and how well defended it is." Winston shot back, trying to show Hunter reason.

"I believe him." A triumphet voice said from a dark corner of the room. I looked over to see Reinhardt, sitting down in his crusader armor. His large hammer at his side as his hand held it firmly in place. He stood tall, still holding his hammer to his side with one hand, and his helm in the other. "As much as it angers me to say zis. Eichenwalde vwould be ze perfect place for a hidden headquarters. Ze place vwas quickly abandoned after ze omnics pushed through. No one has returned to zat place for many years. No surveillance, no connections to ze outside vworld, it's perfect. Vwinston, surely you could at least send a scout just to confirm it?" Reinhardt added, siding with Hunter on the matter.

"I agree with Reinhardt, and perhaps we could dig through those bases Hunter located for us, see if we can find anything relating a base in Eichenwalde. Perhaps even a schematic." Fareeha chimed in as well, siding with both Hunter and Reinhardt.

"Hunter would know better than any of us where Talon is located, he was an assassin for them for twelve years." I couldn't help but add, eager to take Hunter's side along with Reinhardt and Fareeha.

Hunter looked over at me with a little grin, I smiled back. Happily letting him know that I had his back on this one. He quickly looked back at Winston, who was rubbing temples at the sudden change in Hunter's favor.

"Alright, I'll send some scouts. And we'll get out best hackers underway into the databases of those outposts we've captured. Hunter, I'm trusting you on this one. But if this does happen, we're gonna need our best marksman on the mission." He told him, pulling up new screens the came up from the planning table as Winston already began working.

Winston's attention shot to me, "Angela, how long until his hand is healed?" Winston asked, flipping through different screens and getting teams assembled for the scouting mission.

I took a moment to think, remembering every little detail of his injury before I broke down in tears. "Uhh, well, it's just some minor gashes. So, with daily treatments, it should take about...I'd say a week and a half." I gave him my most professional diagnosis I could with the little memory I had to go off of.

"That's plenty of time to get this all under way then." Hunter commented, looking around the room at the rest of us.

"Agreed. If vwhat you say is true Hunter. Zen I'll eagerly avwait reclaiming my masters hometown." Reinhardt said with a evil chuckle, hoisting his hammer onto his shoulder.

"I'll train my soldiers to the fullest, my task force will be just what we need for an assault like this." Fareeha proudly spoke, I knew her task force. I've been their medic on some of their missions. They were truly talented, with a fantastic soldier leading them. If anyone could pull off an assault like this, it was them.

"Alright, I'll contact you all if once the scouting team return and report their findings. If what Hunter says is true, then this will be the fight of our lives. This will be what Overwatch was made for." Winston spoke inspiring words, his tone lighting a flame in your heart. But that wasn't what I was focused on, I looked over at Hunter, seeing him smirking, cross armed. He was right about this, I could tell. And I knew, that this was not gonna be an easy fight.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Feelings

 _July 15th 2077, 1803 Hours_

"I'm gonna take the bandages off." Angela said softly, her silk like hands gently unwrapping the rough, scratchy, and irritating bandages that have been there since yesterdays checkup.

I just sat there, my mind half asleep as I rested my head back against the wall. I yawned, "Do whatever is needed to Doc. You're the expert. Besides, I've bothered you enough the past week." I told her tiredly with a little sigh as I readjusted myself into a more comfortable position.

I heard a slight giggle in response, "Oh please, it's my pleasure really. But how can you be so tired at six?" She asked playfully, looking at me like I was a sleepy puppy. Her voice almost sounded as if it was drifting away. I felt as if I was floating, I probably fell asleep. In all honesty I wouldn't be surprised, haven't been able to get a full nights sleep in ever since I got back.

It's felt like every night... every...damn...night. I've been waking up from nightmares. Rarely I would get one of a previous mission as a Talon assassin, but it's usually always the same one. It's just...me. Walking through the Overwatch headquarters. But the thing is, I'm not...well me. It's like I'm another person following me and watching every move I make. It's weird as all hell but it always goes the same way, and no matter how much I try to stop myself, it's never works, it's like I'm not even fucking there to stop myself. Literally like I'm some kind of fucking spirit that has been pried out of my own body while some other cocksucker takes over my body.

But deep down, everytime I see the actions I commit, I know it's just another me in there...and that's what scares me the most. I walk though the Overwatch base, just me, no one else, no soldiers, no guards, hell not even a fucking Janitor. And it's a straight shot as well. It's a never ending hallway that only has repeating signs every few meters that point straight ahead to the infirmary. I walk, and walk, and walk, and keep on fucking walking. Huffing and puffing in anger with each step until I can finally see the infirmary doors in sight. And this is where the real nightmare begins.

Doors appear all in the empty hallway, along every side. Then, each person that I know and love comes out. Reinhardt, Jack, Ana, Jesse, Joshua, Torjborn, Fareeha, Winston, and Genji. To be honest, I was never really fond of Genji, we never really talked which always makes me ponder why he's there. But, I digress, they all surround me, patting me on the shoulder, slapping me in the back playfully, happy to have me return. That's when I see my anger dissipate for a short moment. Only to see a man standing in front of the doors. Rose is holding her hand and waving right at me happily.

Although, when she tries to run to me, the man holds her back. She pulls and pulls desperately trying to get out of his grip, fear is growing on her face, in her mind, in her heart. She is almost on the verge of crying she becomes so fearful. I feel my heart begin to pound, my emotions getting every single fiber of my being is trying to move, to run towards her, but my body just stands there in a panic. The man pulls her into the infirmary as her scream echos throughout the hallway. I turn around suddenly, only to see everyone but Jesse dead on the ground, and bloody footprints leading to exactly where I'm standing. Or...my body at least. Blood covers my hands...it drips off of my knife and the barrel of my rifle.

Jesse groans behind my body, limping hastily towards the infirmary and even leaving his revolver behind...which I know to god he would never do. The scariest part about it all, is the smile on my body's face. The evil shit-eating grin and eye twitches. My uniform begins to change into it's Talon one. The one I was captured in. Gauze begins to wrap itself around my body's leg and skull. Also the wounds I suffered when I was captured, which were later patched up by Angela. My body slowly turns it's head, staring at Jesse as he stumbles into the infirmary, only to hear a loud gasp from Angela on the other side.

My body grunts loudly in anger as it stomps it's way into the infirmary. Me quickly behind it. I kick the doors open, snapping the right door off of it's top hinge, making the door lean downwards in a position to where it won't close on it's own. Both my, and my body's eyes lock onto the body by the hospital bed. It's Rose, shot in the back of the head while Jesse is being worked on by Angela on the table right behind her. Both seem unaware that my body, Rose's body, and the man standing next to Rose's body are even in the room. The man then takes slow steps towards my body. Holding something behind his back.

*Click*...*Click*...*Click*...*Click*...

His shoes clicked with each step on the metallic floor. He was a formally dressed man, suit, tie, dress shoes. But the suit had a Talon symbol on it, which worried me from the start. He kept walking until he was face to face with my body. He took a slight exhale before speaking, looking behind him as he handed my body my hat. "I believe this is yours." He muttered calmly. Only to turn his full attention towards my body as it put on my hat.

He raised his hand towards Jesse and Angela, pointing towards them, "Kill them." He ordered casually, as if he just expected me to submit and kill my best friend, and the woman that took care of my daughter for twelve years.

My body shut his eyes forcefully, his face looking like he was in pain as he shook it violently back and forth in quick jerky motions. As if there was a war going on in his mind. "I-...I Can't!" He screamed through gritted teeth, still somehow not getting the attention of Angela or Jesse.

"Of course you can. Good Soldiers Follow Orders after all." He said with a little grin as he rested his hand on my shoulder.

My body stopped moving entirely, his head rising straight up and looking dead into the man's eyes. Who only grinned in return. He chuckled lightly, "I believe you know what to do." He said before walking past my body with a slight tap on his shoulder and walking out of the infirmary, the doors actually disappearing behind him.

Everything grew quiet...my body stomped forward, weapon pointed upwards towards my two closest friends. Rose's body had disappeared along with almost everything in the room besides me, my body, Angela, Jesse, and the table Angela was working on Jesse on. My body cocked my gun, which finally got the attention of both Jesse and Angela.

"Hunter..." Angela muttered under her breath, in disbelief of what she was seeing.

"Is it really you?!" She asked as a tear rolled down her cheek and a smile began to appear.

My body didn't make a sound, it just kept it's weapon aimed right at Angela. Moving slightly closer.

This is when Angela's smile would disappear. When I would run up to my body and try everything I could to get it to stop. In the end, I just end up being sucked back into my body like I was some kind of spirit, with no actual control of my actions. Angela would back into the table, on hand holding herself up from behind as I keep moving towards her. Jesse would then reach his arm up towards me, "Hunter...Do-...Don't do this...Remember who you are...remember...partner..." He would faintly mumble to me, using every ounce of strength he had to speak to me and try to get through to me. His arm would then fall down, I couldn't tell if he had just lost his strength, or he had passed.

This is where I would feel my heart slowly begin to ache. My body would continue to move forward until the gun was merely inches from Angela's face. Her face was full of fear, betrayal, confusion, and most of all sadness. Jesse raised his arm and outstretched it towards me once again, hopeful that my body would take it, and stay by his side while the Doc fixed him up. But...everyone in that room knew that the chances of that were slim to none.

"good soldiers follow orders." I muttered uncontrollably, anger and hatred staining my voice.

"Hunter...You know me...You know Jesse! Snap out of this Hunter. Please! It's me! Angela Ziegler! Your best friend...the one that took care of your daugh-"

"Good Soldiers...The-They Follow Orders!" I yelled angrily, pain in my voice as I fought for control over my body back.

"Don't d-...do it partner...don't..." Jesse muttered almost inaudibly, but yet still catching my attention.

Without my control, my body shook his head back and forth hastily, squeezing his eyes shut but never letting the gun move, "Good Soldiers Follow Orders! Good Soldiers Follow Orders! Good Soldiers Follow Orders!" I kept repeating, only for my body to completely ignore every single one of my commands that allowed it to resist. I could feel everything, every movement, every emotion, every thought. There was no remorse, no regret, no sadness, just hatred, anger, relief. My body's finger twitched on the trigger, and with a deafening battle cry, his eyes shot open, and the gun went off.

 _July 15th 2077, 1807 Hours *Angela's POV*_

"Oh please, it's my pleasure really. But how can you be so tired at six?" I asked playfully after giggling at his child like tiredness. I got no response. His eyes were closed and his breathing was very calm. His chest moved up and down with each breath. Every single movement was calm and collective.

It was adorable really, watching him sleep like that. It always made me feel...oddly warm, like I could just cuddle up to him whenever I felt a slight chill and immediately be isolated within that warmth. My hand glided along his arm, he wasn't very muscular, but he was well toned. He was able to handle himself in a fight. My mind began to compare his strength to the others, Jesse, Reinhardt, Torbjorn, Jack, Gabe, all of them. My mind knew that he was the weakest of them all, but he was strong enough for me to feel safe from any danger around him.

My hand began to move upward, and onto his chest. Feeling the calm heartbeat he had. Calm but firm, Strong yet gentle. His chest was covered in scars, most of them from wounds that I had healed. Even through his shirt, you could still feel them. Each gash, each scrape, every bullet hole, and every cut was something that I had remembered.

My mind began to wonder as he slept, as I felt the scars, I could remember most of his injuries in battle. Each time he was Medically Evacuated out of battle, and either I or Jesse, or Josh was with him. Josh, being his spotter, was usually the one that would have to get him out of there, but undoubtedly Jesse was always right behind them. I remembered the time when Jesse was almost kicked out of Blackwatch for jeopardizing their mission to save Hunter's life. Gabriel never grew very fond of Hunter, he always thought that Jesse was too close to him, that a brotherhood like that could only cause problems. I remembered how many times I lied through my teeth to Gabriel about if Jesse helped evacuate Hunter or not. I'd always tell him, "Jesse only covered our escape at the end, he didn't help." I'd have to pretend to be angered just to get through to him, but I didn't mind.

My hand glided to his right arm, right down to the middle of his forearm...when he almost lost it. That day will always be the most fearful I have ever been, no one, not even I was sure if he was gonna pull through. Talon barraged he and Josh's position with artillery fire, and this was years before my Valkyrie suit or my Caduceus Staff were even thought of. The only nanobot technology we had was used for rebuilding lost limbs, but it was only used to make a blueprint of the exact size of the prosthetic limb that we would have to create. I don't remember much more than me crying, Jesse holding Hunter's limp hand as we all worked on him. Josh refusing to leave the room even though he also needed medical treatment. Hunter's flatline... chest paddles...doctors scrambling as we all tried to save his life. I have never been more scared than I was on that day.

Without me even realizing it, I was crying, not audibly, but tears were rushing down my cheeks as I remembered all of this. My breaths weren't at all shaky, they were actually calm, steady as if nothing was wrong. However, my heartbeat was rapid, it felt almost like it was going to burst out of my chest. Tears continued to roll, but I wouldn't cry, not even sob, they were just tears.

I would wipe them away but they would just come back within the next few seconds. However, I had no time to worry about my own feelings, Hunter began to mumble, turning his head back and forth slightly, almost as if he was having a nightmare. I put my hand back onto his chest, making sure I could feel his heartbeat, it was pounding at this point. My mind began to worry, I took my hand back in a bit of shock. His head began to shake more violently, almost as if he was trying to get away something.

His mumbles became more audible, slowly came to the point where it sounded like he was just trying to speak to me. "Good Soldiers Follow Orders..." were the only words that I could make out. In fact it seemed like the only thing he was saying, those four words. 'Good Soldiers Follow Orders.' It was almost like some sort of code phrase, or just a saying that he's known all his life. Yet this is the first time I have ever heard him say that. He's saying it like the phrase is burned into his skull.

My body reacted before I had time to think, I started to gently shake him, trying ever so hard to snap him out of this trans he was in. That's when he grabbed my arm, with all his strength his grip tightened, his teeth now gritted in fury as he kept on mumbling those four words. His grip began to send pain throughout my arm, I didn't make a sound though, I was far too confused and worried about him than to even feel much of it. However his grip never stopped tightening around my arm, his knuckles were white from the amount of strength he was using.

This is when I actually began to feel the pain, making slight yells as I tried to pull myself away. But his grip persisted, now making the pain grow even more. I let out a slight yelp, grasping his hand with my own trying to release his grip. "Hunter, please stop, You're hurting me!" I yelled, hoping that my yells would perhaps wake him from his nightmare.

It seemed to have worked, his eyes shooting open with gasps of air. He looked over at me, eyes widened, looking down at himself than at his hand that was still griping my arm ever so tightly. His grip loosened until he finally released it. I pulled my arm away from him quickly and rubbed where he had gripped me intensely, trying to numb the pain.

"Angela...I'm...I'm so sorry..." He mumbled almost inaudibly, quickly standing up and walking out of the room without saying another word.

"Hunter Wait!" I Yelled running after him.

* * *

 **I apologize for such a short chapter after a long wait. It's been awhile and I felt like you guys deserved something after all this time. Although, a large amount of laziness has prevented me from writing anything for awhile. I actually had this written for quite awhile and I Just added a bit more to it and the quick little ending to this scene, In all reality I will more than likely return to this chapter and add a lot more to it. But you guys deserved something. While it should've been a lot more, I don't really know what to add in between this and the scene that I have in mind, (You Don't get spoilers :( ), But I will do my absolute best to add on to this chapter and repost it ASAP. I thank so many of you for being supportive, You all are truly something I don't deserve.**

 **-Hunting Brothers**


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